Wild beasts are lurking in Wiltshire after several recent “credible” sightings, claims a big cat investigator and podcaster.

Rick Minter, who has hosted the Big Cat Conversations podcast since 2019 and has been investigating the animals for over a decade, believes the county is “perfectly suited” to predatory cats.

He recently presented DNA evidence and spoke of reported sightings of the mammals in the Wiltshire countryside during a talk in Devizes.

Mr Minter told this newspaper that he has received reports of big cat encounters in the area from his network of Wiltshire landowners.

This includes sightings in croplands near Devizes as well as along the Salisbury Plain and at Cotswold Water Park just outside the county.

Mr Minter said: “The common factor is how furtive the cats are, melting away and avoiding disturbance, and the presence of deer, which is the main prey they have evolved for as ambush predators.

“Luckily, they much prefer natural game to sheep which may often be sprayed and treated, so the chemical smell would be off-putting to a predator.

“There are different sized deer across so much of the landscape, and these large cats are also reported foraging for mice and rabbits, and we discussed photos of freshly and clinically devoured fox and badger carcasses at the talks, which seem to be big cat related.”

Mr Minter added he could not be more specific with the locations of the sightings as he needed to protect his sources.

He believes an array of big cats are stalking the countryside, both in Wiltshire and throughout the UK.

These include black leopards, which resemble around 80 per cent of credible big cat sightings according to Mr Minter, black jaguars and pumas, which some claim were released or escaped after being brought to the UK as trophy pets.

Big cat enthusiasts believe Wiltshire is an ideal habitat for these predatory animals due to its rural landscape.

Mr Minter added: “I don’t see why Wiltshire would be any different from any other place where there are reports and there are credible reports from Wiltshire to me and others over the years.

“It’s perfectly suited because it has a lot of natural prey and plenty of cover where cats can keep out of the way.

“You could hide a few elephants in some parts of Wiltshire so some of the stealthiest large carnivores on the planet could certainly manage, it would be very well suited to them.”