Spooked dad hears 'yowling' and snaps pic of 'massive' big cat on school run

Leandro Santos, 37, said he heard a yowling sound and noticed the birds were animated as he walked his daughter, seven, past a wooded area in Orpington on Tuesday

A dad has claimed he caught sight of a hefty 1.5m "lynx or jaguar" during his stroll to drop his daughter off at school.

Leandro Santos, aged 37, was walking his seven year old past a woodland area in Orpington when, on Tuesday (October 15), he heard an unusual yowling noise and noted the disturbed state of nearby birds.

The father to two took a closer look into the trees near the school grounds and asserts he made out the figure of a large, patterned cat.

Leandro, a finance manager living in Swanley, rushed his daughter to her school before he returned to the scene and observed the sizeable beast for roughly five minutes at about 8.45am, describing its movements as if it was hunting the birds.

In his own words, Leandro recounted: "I was so surprised. It was beautiful but also very scary."

Continuing, he said: "It was massive - I'd say 80 centimetres off the ground. It was yellowish with black spots."

Reflecting on his homeland experiences, the Brazilian national added: "I'm originally from Brazil and if I saw this there I'd say it was a jaguar. At one point it looked directly at me - that was very frightening," reports Kent Live.

Leandro elaborated on the encounter: "It was trying to get into a birds nest but they were flying at it to keep it off. Some other birds joined in and I thought it would be safest to leave."

Over the years there have been multiple sightings of big cats in the UK. There have been instances of big cats being found in the UK such as when a puma was captured in 1980.

According to NewScientist, the UK's Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, there has been no credible evidence of big cats presented to Natural England in several decades.