Mystery over large predator in Newton Mearns

A mysterious black beast, thought to be a large predator may be stalking the countryside around Newton Mearns.
Could a big cat like this Puma be stalking the Newton Mearns countryside?Could a big cat like this Puma be stalking the Newton Mearns countryside?
Could a big cat like this Puma be stalking the Newton Mearns countryside?

A woman out walking with her daughter had a terrifying experience - after coming face-to-face with the large black catlike animal.

Yasmin Mohammed, 36, from Newton Mearns regularly walks with her daughters along Waterfoot Road but is now fearful for their safety.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Yasmin and her daughter, Aaliyah, 13, were out for a stroll on Wednesday, September 9 when they spotted what she describes as a ‘large black catlike animal’.

Could a big cat like this Puma be stalking the Newton Mearns countryside?Could a big cat like this Puma be stalking the Newton Mearns countryside?
Could a big cat like this Puma be stalking the Newton Mearns countryside?

Yasmin told us: “At first I wasn’t sure what I was seeing. The animal was far too large to be a normal cat and wasn’t a dog either. It was sitting in the field at the side of the road near Burnhouse Farm.

“We were terrified. We turned and ran part of the way home until we reached the safety of Mearns Castle High School.

“Then we were out on the same road last Tuesday when again we saw the back end of the same animal crossing the road from the farm and going into a garden on the opposite side of the road.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Extra contacted Police Scotland to see if they had received any reports of unidentified large animals, but they have not. Similarly The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland have had no calls for wild animalsin the area.

Laura Reid of Burnhouse Farm confirmed they had suffered no livestock predation and hadn’t seen anything unusual.

She said: “We onlyhave a collie here at the farm - and it’s not black! I’ve not seen anything unusual, no stray dogs or the like and have no idea what this animal could be.

There’s a lot of open greenspace around this area so plenty of room for an animal to hide if it wanted to.”

Related topics: