POWYS is one of the three national hot spots for big cat sightings.

Over the past few weeks, reports of a large cat like predator stalking livestock in north Wales have gripped the region.

However such tales are nothing new and in fact, Powys, Denbighshire and Gwynedd have been the apparent home of such wild animals for decades.

In 2016, BBC programme maker Aled Jones collated more than 100 sightings in mid and north Wales in an 18 month period.

Mr Jones told the Big Cat Society: “There is a remarkable similarity in most of the reported sightings, size, posture, the only variable is the colour.

“I’ve heard of sightings from all sorts of places, even a seaside town, but the majority of sightings are in mountainous, wooded, remote areas.

Almost 60 per cent of sightings were of black cats, and 32 per cent sandy-coloured or brown.

In Wales, big cat sightings are investigated by the Welsh Assembly Government, in the form of the Wildlife Management Unit based at Aberystwyth.

Site visits are carried out when evidence is present and if an unknown predator has killed an animal, the carcass may be taken for post mortem examination.

Samples of hair and droppings can also be sent for DNA analysis, while unusual footprints are also inspected.

Marcus Matthews has researched big cat sightings since 1986 and believes as many as 50 big cats call Britain home, ranging from "black leopards to lynxes and smaller jungle and leopard cats.”

Mid Wales has often been gripped by 'Big Cat Fever.'

In November 1980 a Llangurig farmer reported a 'strange, cat like' animal in a field in the village and the following June a farmer spotted a cat near Aberystwyth.

In January 1996, police marksmen combed Tywi forest near Aberystwyth after reports of a wild cat.

In December 1994 a panther was sighted near Builth Wells.

Pumas and panthers have also been reported on the hills near Ruthin and Bala while a wolverine was also shot by a farmer near Llangollen in November 1997.