Peak district big cat: YouTuber 'records big cat growling' during trip to White Edge near Sheffield

YouTuber ‘Novice Wildcamper’, who travels around the UK and records videos of his camping escapades, claims he heard a distinctive growling sound while visiting White Edge, near Curbar.

The 53-year-old, named Michael, says he heard a ‘guttural growl’ unlike any of the animals he’s heard on his trips over the years.

He said: “I was lying in my tent at night and recording a video and I kept hearing some weird noises outside. It was like a guttural growl, but a bit distant and then suddenly got really loud.

“I’ve heard many strange noises while camping. I've heard a rutting deer, which makes some horrific noises, attacked wild foxes and pigs. Every noise I can explain, link to a creature that is local to the area. And although they may sound weird, you just get used to them.

"But this noise, I just never heard anything like it before. You could sort of feel it. When you hear a deep bass sound, you can actually sort of feel the sound as opposed to just hearing it. And the only thing that I could think of in my head was a big cat.”

The YouTube star, who has thousands of subscribers, has been passionate about camping his entire life and has been running a wild camping channel for the last two years.

After returning home, Michael started researching animal sounds and all the evidence suggested that he had heard a big, wild cat.

Michael said: “While I was in the tent my head was telling me don't be stupid, it can’t be a wild cat, it’s something else that I sort of had to rule it out in my head because I would never get any sleep thinking that I was gonna get attacked by a leopard. So I just kept telling myself that it wasn't a big cat.

"But when I got back and started researching what that noise was. I've googled and searched on YouTube, every single noise of different animals, and none of them sound even remotely close. The only thing I could find that sounded similar were growls of big cats like a black leopard.”

The video which Michael published on his channel received around 600 comments with many people saying that the growl sounds exactly like a big cat.

One of the comments said: “That sounded like a big cat! I saw a Lynx in Hertfordshire last year October. Many reports of lynx, puma and black leopard sightings all over the country. They are definitely out there.”

Michael added: “I think it was back in the 70s people used to have exotic pets and their laws have changed and there were fines for people having them. So some people released them. Obviously, there's been lots of sightings of wild, big cats across the UK.”

Residents across the county have reported many big cat sightings over the years.

Particular hotspots for these sightings in the recent past include around the Peak District, the Derbyshire Dales and Amber Valley.