cat-like animals which are found in America.

When reports came into London Zoo that a wild puma had been spotted forty-five miles south of London,

they were not taken seriously.

however

as the evidence began to accumulate

experts from the zoo felt obliged to investigate

for the descriptions given by people who claimed to have seen the puma were extraordinarily similar.

The hunt for the puma began in a small village where a woman picking blackberries saw 'a large cat' only five yards away from her.

it immediately ran away when she saw it

and experts confirmed that a puma will not attack a human being unless it is cornered.

the search proved difficult

for the puma was often observed at one place in the morning and at another place twenty miles away in the evening.

wherever it went

it left behind it a trail of dead deer and small animals like rabbits.

Paw prints were seen in a number of places and puma fur was found clinging to bushes.

Several people complained of "cat-like noises' at night and a businessman on a fishing trip saw the puma up a tree.

The experts were now fully convinced that the animal was a puma,

but where had it come from

As no pumas had been reported missing from any zoo in the country,

this one must have been in the possession of a private collector and somehow managed to escape.

the hunt went on for several weeks

but the Puma was not caught

It is disturbing to think that a dangerous wild animal is still at large in the quiet countryside.