A CAMERA positioned to capture the appearance of the legendary Surrey puma has itself disappeared this week.
The ￡300 device was put up?at the Wotton Estate on Saturday (October 23) by the Surrey representative of Big Cats in Britain, but by Wednesday it had gone.
Gary Ridley is offering a cash reward for anyone with information on how it disappeared from the White Down Lane area of Abinger Hammer and?which leads to its return.
He was keen to gather?photographic evidence of the presence of a big cat in the area after a report of a sighting from a train to the north of Dorking station in September.
A woman passenger on her way to work said she had seen a golden brown animal which “looked like a lioness but not as bulky".
The animal was said to be around two metres long and was seen from around 100m away, from the 7.02am train to London Waterloo.
She reported the animal looked like a skinny lioness or a puma, and it was said to be skulking low through a field of sheep. Other passengers had apparently not looked up from their newspapers and so they missed it.
The sighting came as no surprise to Mr Ridley, who had his camouflage bark-coloured camera specially imported from the USA to capture such moments.
He had positioned the specialist piece of equipment, which others will struggle to operate without a manual or expert knowledge, on a gatepost.
“It had only been out there for four nights,” he said. “It’s an area where this cat may well move through. This puma may well have come from the Kent area, from Tunbridge Wells.
“We are trying to establish where they are, but we need proof. It’s all hearsay. There have been lots and lots of sightings so we are desperate to get these cameras out there.
“We’re desperate to get this camera back. I’m appealing to people’s good side to help us get it back.”
Anyone with information or with a sighting to report should e-mail garyridley@hotmail.co.uk.
Mr Ridley said there were signs that big cats were out in the area, but proving it has been difficult because they are so elusive and people are sceptical.
“The amount of sightings that there are prove to us that there is a phenomenon going on,” he said.
“The government are not going to want people to know that there are big cats out there because it will lead to fear.
“Rotting carcasses have gone missing and there are a number of pictures, but they are grainy. We just want one picture, but they are so elusive and they are nocturnal.”
Reported sightings of mystery beasts in the area in the past decade have been made near Farnham as well as in Shamley Green, Worplesdon and Tadworth.
Such sightings have given birth to the popular legend of the Surrey puma, and Mr Ridley said his father-in-law had also seen one in Clandon Park.
“They are out there and they are breeding,” he insisted.
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