Golfers Mark Robinson and Paul Shepherd were right to be startled when they saw what looked like a panther during a round at Huddersfield Golf Club .

But sightings of large exotic cats in the UK and indeed Yorkshire are more common than you'd think.

There were 127 recorded sighting of anomalous big cats (ABCs) in Yorkshire between April 2004 and July 2005, according to BBC Wildlife.

Some will have been cases of mistaken identity; sometimes the spotter will misjudge the distance mistaking a domestic cat relatively nearby for something larger, further away. Sometimes it simply isn't a cat and the spotter - and media reporting the false sighting - are left with egg on their faces.

But there have been a number of confirmed sightings of cats much bigger than the domestic feline.

Some were even captured alive and spent the rest of their lives in zoos.

Some key sightings

Mark Robinson took these pictures of "what looked like a big black panther" while playing at Huddersfield Golf Club
Mark Robinson took these pictures of "what looked like a big black panther" while playing at Huddersfield Golf Club

In 1980 a puma was captured in Inverness-shire, Scotland. The capture followed several years of sightings in the area of a big cat matching the description of the one captured, which had led local farmer Ted Noble to erect a cage trap. The puma was subsequently put into the Highland Wildlife Park zoo and given the name 'Felicity'. When she died she was stuffed and placed in Inverness Museum.

In 1989 a jungle cat that had been hit by a car was found on the roadside in Shropshire.

In 1991 a Eurasian lynx was shot near Norwich. It had killed around 15 sheep within two weeks. It was probably an escapee from a facility in the area that bred animals, including Eurasian lynxes.

In 1996, police in Fintona, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland shot a cat. It was reportedly a caracal, a medium-sized wildcat species found in Africa and Asia.

Eurasian lynx

In a well-reported 2001 case, a young female Eurasian lynx was captured alive by police and vets in Cricklewood, north London, after a chase across school playing fields and into a block of flats. It was placed in London Zoo and given the name 'Lara' before ultimately being transferred to a zoo in France to breed.

In 2004, footage was recorded of what appears to be a large black cat near a farm in Shropshire. The cat had been seen by the farmers on numerous occasions.

In July 2009, photographs and video footage of a large black cat were taken by an off-duty Ministry of Defence Police officer. The animal was walking along a railway line in Helensburgh, Argyll. Large cats, either black or tan, have been reported in the area before.

In 2010, video footage of what is claimed to be a large black cat was recorded in Stroud, Gloucestershire. 'Experts' have estimated that the creature was at least five feet in length from nose to tail.

Attacks

Caracal

In 2000, an 11-year-old boy in Monmouthshire was attacked by what he claims was a large black cat. It left him with five long claw marks across his left cheek. The police called in a big cat expert to investigate the incident.

In 2005, a man who lived in Sydenham Park in south-east London was attacked in his back garden, which backed onto a railway line. The man who was 6ft and weighed 15st described the cat as a big black figure that pounced on him and was considerably stronger than he was. He was left with scratches all over his body. Police were called and according to the BBC, one police officer saw a cat the size of a Labrador dog.

Where do these non-native wildcats come from?

They are believed to be exotic pets that were illegally owned and later released when they became too difficult to keep.