WARNING – GRAPHIC CONTENT: Harlem Karma, 18, found 10 dead sheep in a field near Kendall, in Cumbria, with just bones left and he believes that it was a “big cat kill”
A graveyard of mutilated sheep has been found by a stunned student prompting fears a big cat is on the loose.
Harlem Karma came across the 10 carcasses in a field with the dead livestock having been picked clean while he commented on the terrible smell. The 18-year-old made the grim discovery on the land in the outskirts of Kendall in Cumbria.
And it comes as Harlem – who is interested in the possibility of big cats living wild in the UK – claims he has also seen a leopard-sized creature in the same area, too. The teen now claims the dead sheep is evidence for the legendary Beast of Cumbria.
“Last year, I saw what I believe to be a black, melanistic leopard. I was on the bus at the time, as it effortlessly jumped over a dry stone wall, and continued into a wooded tree line,” he said.
“Since then, I have collected several reports from this area of an animal with the same description with sightings dating as far back as 2011. Like many people, I grew up on stories from British folklore like the Loch Ness monster and the Beast of Exmoor.
“So I started doing my own research. I was informed of the field in Kendal and went to look and it was full of mutilated sheep. It was like a graveyard. The sheer number of dead sheep was really weird. The smell of rotting flesh was awful. The distress to the muzzles and neck indicates a big cat kill.
“The sheer vastness of Cumbria and its diverse landscape and wildlife increases chances of there being big cats here. The reports in Cumbria are always of a large black cat. But there’s very little hard evidence when it comes to big cats in Cumbria.” The Beast of Cumbria legend is based on decades of sightings of big cats across the county including black panthers, leopards, lynxes and caracals.
Harlem, of Lancaster, also told NeedToKnow: “I’m aiming to get some solid evidence of these mysterious creatures without revealing their locations specifically. I’m also hoping to feature a few interviewees in the film too to help strengthen the believability of the phenomena here in Cumbria.”
