Big cat investigators say they have seen what they believe to be a puma in a Buckinghamshire woodland - the latest in a long line of terrifying sightings in the Chilterns. 

There have long been apparent sightings of big cats in Buckinghamshire, which led to reports of a "Beast of Bucks" lurking in our countryside - and the latest sighting was in Hodgemoor Woods, off the A355 between Beaconsfield and Amersham. 

Big Cats of the Chilterns, a group of investigators who have long been trying to prove the existence of these animals in the area, say they had a sighting of what they believe was a puma on Sunday, May 15. 

Sharing the news on their Facebook page, they told how the large sandy-coloured cat was seen jumping down from a tree and bounding off into the undergrowth. 

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They wrote: "We have just had a sighting of a very large cat in Hodgemoor woods.

"It was sandy coloured so we are assuming it’s a puma. It jumped down from a tree and bounded into undergrowth.

"Hodgemoor woods has a long history of reports including one horse attack, and multiple sightings.

"A couple of years ago there was spate of sightings around Gore Hill [Amersham] and Coleshill. Be good to keep your eyes open.

"We have also had a recent sighting of a sandy coloured cat just north of Wycombe."

There have been a string of sightings of a sandy-coloured cat in the area in recent years. 

Just last year, a shocked High Wycombe walker shared with the Bucks Free Press a sighting of a tan-coloured puma around Keep Hill Woods. 

Natalie Godliman saw a large cat in April last year, telling the paper: "It was basking in the sun in the long grass. I couldn’t tell what on earth it was then it got up and it bounded across the field and I saw its silhouette and long thin tail.

"It took me a minute to realise and I couldn’t believe it was a puma.”

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There were reports of a large sandy-coloured cat near Knotty Green in October last year and a "lynx" spotted crossing the road in Prestwood on September 17, 2021. 

A "large black leopard" was also apparently spotted roaming around the north east edge of Beaconsfield on September 8 last year, near Beaconsfield Golf Course.

Investigators also had a reported sighting of a "large puma" to the east of Princes Risborough which was seen by someone in a car in 2021, and a shocked neighbour reported seeing a "big black cat" that was "over a metre long" in Windmill Lane in Widmer End on May 10, 2021. 

Sightings of a "Beast of Bucks" have been circulating since 2001, when experts confirmed prints found on Wycombe Heights golf course in Loudwater were those of a puma.

Many zoologists are convinced Britain has a large wild population of big cats, which grew in the late 1970s when the Dangerous Wild Animals Act forced owners to get rid of exotic pets.