On Saturday night there was a supposed sighting of a lion on the loose near the coastal town on Clacton-On-Sea in Essex, UK. It fuelled people’s imaginations and reignited a long standing debate about whether or not there are big cats living wild across the country.

A widely believed theory behind the possible existence of big cats in the UK suggests people illegally released their ‘exotic pets’ into the wild after the 1976 Dangerous Wild Animals Act made it very difficult to keep untamed animals. Many owners could not afford to build secure enclosures or lacked the space.

The Telegraph recently published another theory by a British Professor. Professor Harris believes that domestic cats are turning feral and growing up to 4 feet in length. But our favourite theory behind the fresh Essex sighting is that in fact the cat in question was either a local ginger cat called Tom or a Maine Coon called Teddy Bear.

Could your cat be mistaken for a BIG CAT?