Original headline: BEAST SNAPPED ON DARTMOOR HILL
Dartmoor Beast fever is back after a couple spotted a puma-like animal in the Drewsteignton area.
One of the witnesses, a regular Moor visitor, managed to snatch this photo of the mysterious creature as it roamed on a hillside. "I was with a woman who looked over my shoulder and exclaimed: 'What is that?' It was about 600 metres away and dark against the grassland," said the shocked observer.
"I've spent a lot of time on Dartmoor and never seen anything quite like it. It was at least four times as big as a fox," he said.
He added: "I've seen the occasional deer but this was thicker, heavier and lower to the ground. It was a dark cat-like creature with a big thick tail. I know there have been sightings lately. I am 60 per cent sure it was something I've never seen before."
The sighting was on Monday about half-a-mile north east of Drewsteignton.
In April, the Herald Express reported three people catching sight of a large black "puma" on the village green at Manaton.
The beast had been blamed for decapitating 14 hens in the area.
The Dartmoor-based British Big Cats Society says there have been many sightings of a beast in the last few months.
