A TREE surgeon who discovered the half-eaten remains of an animal thinks it may have been killed by a big cat rumoured to stalk the Stroud Valleys.

Andy Graham from Stroud found the leg of what looks like sheep or a goat at a farm in Sheepscombe on Thursday, February 25.

“There was a poo next to it,” he said, “but the leg was left in the frost so there were no foot prints.

“I think it must have been a big cat, the meat has been totally stripped from the bone.

“A dog could do it but it would sit and chew it, it just doesn’t fit a dog.”

Andy found the chewed limb in a horse field. The nearest sheep graze two fields away.

Residents who live near the farm want to put CCTV cameras around the pastures so that they can watch what animals come and go after dark.

Big cat specialist Frank Tunbridge is looking into the findings to see if there is any evidence which backs up the case that it was a big cat.

“It could have been a big cat but it could have been a fox,” he said.

“Without any evidence you can’t really say.

“I found some roe deer legs which had been bitten off a couple of weeks ago in the same area - although one might have been a fallow deer because I found some black rump hair.

“If we can find some more evidence for the big cat I will put my 24/7 trail cameras out.”

Sightings of big cats are reported with some frequency in the Stroud Valleys but as yet no one has managed to get a picture of the animal prompting sceptics to sniff at the reports.