Pumas are large, cat - like animals which are found in America. When reports came into London Zoo that a wild puma had been spotted forty - five miles south of London, they were not taken seriously. However, as the evidence began to accumulate, experts from the Zoo felt obliged to investigate, for the descriptions given by people who claimed to have seen the puma were extraordinarily similar.
The hunt for the puma began in a small village where a woman picking blackberries saw 'a large cat' only five yards away from her. It immediately ran away when she saw it, and experts confirmed that a puma will not attack a human being unless it is cornered. The search proved difficult, for the puma was often observed at one place in the morning and at another place twenty miles away in the evening. Wherever it went, it left behind it a trail of dead deer and small animals like rabbits.
Footprints were seen in a number of places and puma fur was found clinging to bushes. Several people claimed to have seen the puma at different times, but they all agreed that it was a large cat with a long tail and a light - brown coat. All the evidence pointed to the fact that the puma was in the area.
In the end, the mystery was solved when the puma was caught by a farmer in a trap. It was a young puma which had strayed from its mother and decided to go exploring on its own. It must have been in the area for some time, for it had already eaten some of the deer and small animals that were in the area. It was taken to London Zoo, where it lived for several months before it died.