Is there really a big cat roaming the Lake District?

Prof Allaby said he was relatively confident the sample had not been faked for two main reasons.

Mr Minter has long been sending him samples and was always disappointed by Prof Allaby’s analysis revealing the DNA belonged to a fox or a dog.

Secondly – very little DNA was present on the sample, he said.

“If this were a fake, I would expect plenty of DNA to be present in order that we would be sure to find it,” he said.

“It would be very difficult to plant just a few molecules with any finesse – I don’t think I could do it, let alone a lay person.”

However due to such a small of DNA present, Prof Allaby said there was not enough information to determine what type of big cat it came from.

He said more samples were needed before he could definitively say a big cat roamed Cumbria.

“[However] on the balance of probabilities, I think this a genuine hit,” he said.

He added that he did not believe there was enough data to publish a paper on his findings yet.