A BLACK panther-like animal has been spotted in the Fatherford area of Okehampton by a student on his way to Okehampton College one morning last week.
Tom Webster,18, said he was walking near the Fatherford viaduct on the Belstone road at 11am Wednesday, December 5, when he looked up and saw the animal in the middle of the road, 20 metres away.
'It stopped and looked at me for five seconds and then dashed into the bushes,' said Tom. 'It was black and the size of a labrador. There was no mistaking what it was because I had a really good view of it.'
Tom said initially he was frightened but it made off pretty quickly, like it was more scared of him.
There have been similar sightings in the South Zeal/Belstone but not for some time.
The sightings are usually after a very cold spell when the animals go further afield to look for food.
'Fatherford is the perfect environment because it is on the edge of woodland which joins fields and there are lots of little streams,' said Tom.
Two other members of Tom's family have seen a large black cat, but from a greater distance.
'They never said anything at the time because they thought people would not believe them,' he said.
'I even laughed at my mum when she told me about it.
'Lots of people walk in the Fatherford area and I just wanted to alert them to what I had seen.'
Tom now takes a camera to college with him each day just in case history repeats itself and he gets that much sought after first clear picture of a panther roaming the area.