A LARGE black cat – possibly a panther – has been seen several times in the Teifi valley area in the last two weeks.

Several former pupils of Ysgol Dyfryn Teifi have seen the animal in the Horeb and Croesllan areas – and all of them are certain it’s a huge wild cat.

"I definitely had a clear view. This enormous black panther crossed the road in front of my car, stopped and looked at me then jumped over a farm gate and trotted off down a track," said 19-year-old Chris Davies, of Blaenporth.

"I was in the Croesllan area at the time and several of my mates have seen something similar around there. I had a mate with me at the time and we both saw it. There is no way I imagined something like that. I looked straight into its eyes," he added.

Another friend, Alex Harrison, from Newcastle Emlyn, thinks he saw the same animal in the Horeb area just last week. "I was driving home at about 10.30 at night and I had to brake as this animal stepped in front of the car. I saw it clearly in the headlights. It was all black and big enough to be a panther. It just trotted off and disappeared."

*Black panthers, which can be variants of jaguars or leopards, are said to be stealthy animals and rarely seen.

They are elusive and solitary and hunt alone in a home range of several square miles.

They eat "anything that moves", such as wild deer and rabbits or livestock such as sheep, pigs and even dogs.

In the case of extreme food shortage they may occasionally feed on human flesh, but normal healthy black panthers tend to avoid humans as much as possible. They are native to rainforests, but can live in a wide variety of habitats, so long as there is a supply of food.

They are good tree climbers and in their native habitat often catch their prey by jumping from above.