Forteana

Far from being an invasion of black panthers in Blighty, a former zookeeper believes the culprit is a creature that most of us are already pretty familiar with, kind of.

Hayley de Ronde told the Star she thinks people have actually been seeing the super rare melanistic fox.

She told the outlet that there are over 400 black foxes roaming the streets and countryside.

"If somebody believes they have seen a big cat more often than not it's going to be a more regular animal," de Ronde claimed.

"If they are adamant they have seen a big cat then there's a high chance that it might be a fox instead – that they did see something unusual but it isn't quite what they thought."

According to Black Foxes UK, the animal is pretty rare for the UK.

However, over the past few years, there's been a rise in melanistic traits in the UK fox population, with more and more of the black foxes being spotted.

But de Ronde also said that other animals have been confused for big cats too, not just these rare foxes.

"Once you point it out to people what it is [foxes] they suddenly see what you're seeing," she said.

"They're not only foxes – they can be dogs, cats, I believe a few cows get confused."