“I’M CONVINCED it’s a big cat” – those are the words of a Basingstoke grandfather after he found the dead body of a roe deer which had been savagely attacked.

Ken Bowden was riding his mountain bike on the fields near Manydown on Thursday, August 31 when he came across the gruesome find.

The 71-year-old, from Winklebury, is convinced that the deer must have been attacked by a big cat, saying: “Straight away I thought it was a big cat that had done this. You can tell from the wound on the throat – that’s how they kill.”

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The father-of-two and grandfather-of-one believes the deer was too big to have been attacked by a fox or other animal, adding: “I’m just fascinated, not concerned.

"Big cats sleep during the day and come out early morning. But they are a bit like a UFO – I haven’t actually seen one. They sleep in the trees so I keep looking.”

It is not the first time Ken has spotted animal remains in the countryside around Basingstoke. 

In 2022 he discovered leg bones belonging to a deer in almost exactly the same spot, at the exit footpath of Worting Wood towards Ibworth Road which runs into Wooton St Lawrence.

However, the retired forklift truck seller is not frightened about coming face-to-face with a big cat but fascinated by their possible presence in the Basingstoke countryside.

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“I don’t think they are a threat to people,” he said, adding: “As soon as you see them, they are gone. If anyone is really interested now is the chance to test the DNA. I’m convinced this has been done by a big cat.”

Possible sightings of big cats have been reported in the borough’s countryside for many years, with one nicknamed locally as the ‘Beast of Basingstoke’.

In May this year, DNA from a black hair caught on a barbwire fence was said to have provided ‘definite proof’ that big cats are roaming the British countryside, according to the makers of a documentary.

The strands of hair were found after a sheep was attacked in Gloucestershire following ‘unusual predatory’ activity.

They were sent off for testing by the makers of Panthera Britannia Declassified – a documentary investigating sightings across the UK – who said the results had returned ‘positive’, confirming the existence of black panthers and other big cats living in the countryside.

It is thought that big cats may live in the British countryside after being set free to roam when it became illegal for people to keep them as pets in 1976.