A father and his son were left in disbelief when they spotted a large cat leaping across the road in front of their car while driving back to their campsite. The pair were astounded by the clarity with which they could see the creature, describing ‘tufts on its ears’ and noting that it was ‘very muscular’.
Every year, Gareth Wright, 55, from Yeovil, makes a camping trip with his son to Coleford in the Forest of Dean. They enjoy exploring the local wildlife, with a particular interest in spotting birds of prey and the wild boar known to inhabit the area.
During their trip last summer, Gareth and his son had a delightful time observing a variety of wildlife, particularly deer. On one of their walks, they encountered wild boar and even some wild boar piglets, affectionately referred to as ‘humbugs’.
Their unexpected sighting occurred while they were driving past a recycling centre in the village on their way back to the campsite. It was an encounter they hadn’t anticipated during their wildlife-focused holiday, GloucestershireLive reports.
Gareth shared: “I love to travel across the UK and see the wildlife in its natural habitat, and even visit Scotland to watch the eagles and red squirrels. Over the years I have been able to look pass the hedgerow and further into the woods to be able to see wildlife where as some people do not look much further than what is in front of them, it really is a favourite pastime for my son and I to do together.
“We were on a camping holiday in Coleford for a week in August last year. It is the perfect location to watch deer and see the wild boar and the humbugs. One of the days we were there, we had been out for a good couple of hours and had seen deer and the wild boar and little humbugs, and it got to about 9pm and we decided to head back to the camp site.”
Gareth described a surprising sighting near the local recycling centre: “We were driving passed the fenced area by the recycling centre in Coleford and we seen a lynx jump into the road. In one bound it jumped across the road.”
Convinced of what he saw, the camper elaborated on the details that led him to identify the animal: “There is no question about it, the animal was clearly a lynx. You could tell by the tufts on its ears, the green eye shine and it was dark tan and tall as a Labrador.”
He further detailed the physical attributes of the creature: “The definition of the muscles on the animal as well. It had muscular legs and had no problem leaping eight or ten feet across the road.”
With certainty, he stated: “It was a lynx, you could see plain as day.”
Gareth, who has previously spotted big cats in the wild, understands the scepticism but stands by his claim. He explained: “In 1996 I was on my way, with my wife, to see friends in Colchester and seen a puma on a road near Colchester Zoo. I think the big cats which are living in the British countryside hear the big cats which are n the zoo and are attracted to the sounds and the noises of the other big cats.”
“Another time when I was working as a delivery driver, and I was taking groceries to a house in the middle of nowhere and I seen a puma in the middle of a field. There are more big cats living in the wild in the countryside in England than people realise.”
“I am not too sure about leopards or jaguars being out there, however there are plenty of lynx and it is very interesting in how they came to be there. If you’re someone who disbelieves big cats are out there, it is unfortunate, however one day you may be able to see one for yourself.”
Gareth reached out to lifelong wildlife enthusiast Frank Tunbridge, 76, from Podsmead who shared: “Early last week I was contacted by a man who had a close-up encounter with a lynx near Coleford, in the Forest of Dean. Whilst in the car early evening with his son, they had seen at intervals deer, and wild boar piglets cross the road ahead of them. however all of a sudden a lynx leapt into the road in front of them.”
“According to the witness, the animal was unmistakably a lynx. It had long legs, short black tipped tail, fawn and mottled in colouration, and those long tufted ears.”
“The man who related this to me said that he spoke to some locals about it, and they said that they knew of their existence, and that the lynx preyed on the ‘humbugs’, as the piglets are known as .”
“This makes perfect sense as all carnivores are opportunistic, and often waste a lot of time and precious energy pursuing fast adult prey, which often escape most of the time. The young of any prey species offer an easy meal, especially when in groups, or sounders such as wild boar makeup.”
“Lynx are very secretive wild cats most of the time, and are known as ‘ghosts of the Forest’ in their native countries. They specialise in the art of ambush a lot of the time, concealed silently in wait beside a deer trail for hours sometimes, in what is known as a ‘couch position’, letting the deer come to them, before launching their lethal attack.”
“Lynx were once indigenous to Great Britain, however they were unfortunately hunted to extinction, alongside other carnivores, such as the wolf.”
“They are resident in small numbers throughout the UK, especially in dense forested areas of woodland, where there Is enough food to fuel their diet. This including deer, especially roe and the diminutive muntjac”.
“I have had an experienced tracker and naturalist that I know report lynx sightings from various parts of Great Britain over the years. Especially a few from the Kielder Forest in Northumberland which is a massive remote area covering 250sqare miles.”
“The European lynx, which is the largest type, were rumoured to have been released into The Forest of Dean some years ago after a rural sports business failed. It is an ideal environment for them to survive in, covering some 42 square miles of mixed ancient woodland, with a menu of rabbit, pheasant, wild boar, deer, and small rodents to exist on.”
“To top up the population of feral lynx in the UK, some ‘Black Ops’ release programmes have taken place which have been carried out by private re-wilding enthusiasts. We seek to learn the habits of wild creatures to get close to them, whereas they learn our habits to enable them to avoid us most of the time you just need to be in the right place at the right time for a glimpse of a lynx.”
“The overwhelming evidence of free-living lynx in The Forest of Dean and many other parts of the country is already quite apparent, even though ironically, there is talk of an official planned re-wilding programme for lynx to be reintroduced in certain parts of Great Britain.”
“Anyway, I find it fascinating and exciting to know that the lynx is back, and doing well. I would be delighted to hear from anyone who has had an encounter with one, or seen a big cat, wolf, or other exotic creature in the UK.”
If anyone would like to get in contact with Frank, please email him at [email protected] to talk in confidence about any sightings you may have witnessed.