Many sightings in France, Belgium, Spain, and Luxembourg...

Many sightings in France, Belgium, Spain, and Luxembourg...

North-East of France
Rehon, Belgium
Habay, Belgium
Leglise, Belgium
Bascharage, Luxembourg
Mamer/Bertrange, Luxembourg

European Big Cats in Britain correspondent, Myriam Trausch reports: “Tarragona - lion hunting in Spain: Two helicopters are looking for a specialized police unit in the Northeast after a lioness who has put more walkers and joggers in fear and terror.
As the authorities had informed on Tuesday had seen in recent days, several citizens, the big cat in the neighborhood of the town of La Senia, south of Tarragona.
"In the population there is a certain uneasiness, because we do not know if the animal attacks a human being," said Mayor Víctor Pla. First, it was not known, whence could come the lioness. The police suspected that the animal escaped from a circus or comes from the possession of local residents, who had kept the cat as an exotic pet.
According to the various newspapers quite a lot of people have seen the animal
According to witnesses apparently black and big as a deer
According to descriptions of a Belgian witness: 1m20 long and 80 cm in height
I did not see it personally, but there have been quite a lot of people seeing the cat in Belgium, France and also in Luxembourg.
I did so far not see the cat myself, but I attached you a picture of the prints which were found in Belgium. The cat has been seen in Belgium, France as well as in Luxembourg. It seems to wander around in the border territory of our three countries. Past week there have been sightings of the cat in a field in-between two Luxembourgish villages called "Mamer" and "Bertrange".

I went on the search myself yesterday with a friend in-between Mamer and Bertrange and thought that the cattle would behave strangely. The entire group of cattle run up to us as if they would be afraid? As I continued with my car, they all followed us?
According to the prints which I attached (from a newspaper, so please do not publish before asking that newspaper), which animal do you think it could be? People always describe the animal as 'Panther'-like.
After having spoken to friends of mine from South Africa, they think that the prints cannot be from a panther, because then the claws would not be shown in the print?
How shall the people behave towards the animal? Is there any danger for children or pets?
In case of questions, don't hesitate to write me. I will keep you updated in case I would see the animal and also about the latest news (if any).
Yours truly,
Myriam Trausch

Newspaper Links: http://www.wort.lu/wort/web/letzebuerg/artikel/53501/augenzeugen-entdecken-panther-in-stadtnaehe.php
http://tageblatt.editpress.lu/luxembourg/34061.html
http://www.lameuse.be/actualite/faits_divers/2009-09-08/panthere-noire-vue-portes-habay-725546.shtml

Black Panther Sightings Reported in Northeast France, Belguim and Luxembourg

Posted: 27 Oct 2009 07:45 AM PDT

news.com.au - A black panther sighted in northeast France several weeks ago, and last seen in Belgium in September, was possibly spotted in neighbouring Luxembourg over the weekend, police said today.
"Police were alerted Sunday at 3.30pm by a lady who saw a black panther in an industrial zone in Bascharage," a small community in southwest Luxembourg, spokesman Vic Reuter said.
"We sent out several patrols with dog handlers, and a police helicopter with a thermal camera searched for several hours but we couldn't find anything," he said, adding that the hunt was abandoned in the late afternoon.
He said police were taking the sighting "very seriously", given that a similar animal had been seen in the Ardennes region not far away in Belgium.
The panther hunt began on August 24, when a large wild cat was first spotted by hikers in woods in the Meurthe-et-Moselle region of northeast France.
Tracks at the site were found to be those of a "great cat, probably a black panther," according to French hunting and wild fauna office (ONCFS).
Around a dozen further sightings occurred in France, including one by a natural sciences teacher which was thought to be very credible.
No circuses or zoos have reported such an animal missing, and officials believe the cat might have been raised by a person living in the area.