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ARCHIVED - WATCH: Mysterious big cat stalks Cadiz countryside
Officials in Cádiz believe the white feline could be an escaped exotic animal
Residents of the Cádiz municipality of Los Barrios are on high alert since Monday January 2 when images of a huge white cat stalking the outskirts of a farm went viral. A local spotted the enormous white feline creeping through the undergrowth in the Benharás area and recorded the mysterious video, before also taking some snaps of what could be the tracks of the same feline.
The man immediately reported the sighting to Seprona, the Nature Protection Service of the Guardia Civil, and trained officers are still scouring the countryside to locate the animal.
The big worry at the moment of course is that the animal could be dangerous. According to official sources, several witnesses have confirmed that the feline has been in the area before and that it’s certainly “a bigger cat” than your usual domestic pet. For now, the species remains unknown, but officers haven’t ruled out the possibility that it’s an exotic big cat.
“It is not unreasonable because there are many people who like to have this type of animal," the mayor of Los Barrios, Miguel Alconchel, commented, adding that its sheer size indicates that it could well be an albino tiger.
However, many experts are sceptical, claiming that the angle and distance of the video might just be distorting a regular domestic feline.
"Something similar happened a few months ago with another black cat, which also turned out to be a (domestic) cat," Pilar González-Iglesias, director of Vetersalud Exovet and specialist in exotic animals, pointed out.
There are no reports of an animal matching its description having escaped from a zoo or sanctuary, and given the widespread coverage, if it is an exotic wild cat, it was most likely smuggled into Andalucia illegally.
Image: Ayuntamiento de Los Barrios
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