LOCAL farmers are being asked to help gather evidence about the sporadic reports of giant felines roaming the countryside.

In recent years, the Gazette & Herald has reported a number of such sightings in the district. These and other sightings are recorded on our website, This is Ryedale.

Now, National Farmers' Union members have been questioned about mysterious big cat sightings through the NFU magazine, stemming from increasing reports of unidentifiable puma-like creatures roaming the fields not just locally, but across Britain.

Farmers are being asked to contact the British Big Cats Society, which is already conducting research among the public about sightings of unidentified creatures.

NFU York East County chairman Rosie Dunn said: "This is a serious issue for farmers who need to be aware of threats to their animals from worrying and attacks."

She said: "But while there have been several reports of local sightings, we have no firm evidence of how many instances of unidentifiable creatures there are.

"By being the 'eyes and ears' of the countryside for the British Big Cats Society, we aim to reach a clearer picture."

Bob Chaffer, north-east representative of the society which was set up to identify, quantify, catalogue and protect the big cats, backed the move.

"I think it's great that they are doing this, the more people that are looking for the big cats, the better we are likely to do," he said.

"All the information we can gather on the big cats helps to build a picture of the area, and the more information we have, the clearer the picture.

"I think the farmers realise that a lot of the information that has come in before has been anecdotal and this is a move to make it more conclusive and structured."

He said this new reporting scheme would be of benefit to all members of the community. "The more awareness we can raise, the better it will be for people.

"If it comes back to us that there are being sightings in a particular area, then it can help farmers to have that information. I think it should be of help to everybody."

Updated: 11:18 Wednesday, February 04, 2004