Big cats living inside Silbury Hill?

A visitor from Latvia has photographed “a large dark animal much bigger than a cat” on the slopes of Silbury Hill.

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Balandžio Pirmosios was on his way to meet friends at Avebury when he spotted the creature about half way up the monument. He said “My nephew took a picture as we drove by but when we turned round and drove past again there was no sign of it. I was amazed at how quickly it disappeared.”

This is not the first such report. Seven years ago an American tourist reported seeing “a largish, dark creature moving slowly up the mound”. Local archaeologist Peter Stoner from Marlborough believes he may have an explanation. “It’s possible there are several of these creatures, most probably lynxes, and they could be living inside the mound, making use of the voids which English Heritage said would develop at the top of the tunnels they filled.”

A spokesperson for English Heritage said they had left some voids and these were expected to enlarge over time but they were unable to confirm for certain whether there were lynxes living in them.