A SECOND "panther" could be on the loose in Hampshire after a sighting of a big black cat with white markings near an area where a number of people have spotted a mystery beast.

Pensioner Caroline Gilbert was left shocked when the animal with white hind quarters leapt out of bushes in front of her as she walked her two dogs around Itchen Valley Country Park, West End, Southampton.

The 62-year-old watched as the ferocious feline sprinted for 30 seconds before it disappeared into woodland near a reservoir.

Her sighting comes just days after a big game hunt for a completely black big cat started in West End.

It began when a "panther" was seen in the grounds of St James School by a neighbour and a teacher.

Then mother-of-two Tracy Reilly told the Daily Echo on Thursday how she came face-to-ace with a "panther" in a country lane near her home in Avington Park, Itchen Abbas.

Even though Mrs Gilbert, who walks her dogs in the park every day, has only just seen the animal she claims that many other people she knows who use the park have seen it in the past.

She said: "Occasionally I see deer and their white rump going into the woods. But, although this animal had a white rump, the rest of it was black.

"It moved like a cat and was bigger than a Labrador. It ran very quickly but I got a good look at it for half a minute. I am absolutely sure that it wasn't a deer or a dog. It was about 50 yards away.

"I don't know if it was the panther that was seen at the school but its seems strange because this would be an ideal place for it and it's close to the school.

"I know other people have seen it here by the river."

Bill Hall from Marwell Zoo near Winchester, who has worked with big cats for 37 years, believes Mrs Gilbert saw one of the herd of roe deer that live in the park. They can look black in some lights and have a white rump," he said.

Mr Hall added that he believes the chances of there being a big cat on the loose in West End is somewhere in the order of a million to one.

"From what I have seen there's little evidence. What is it eating in West End? There's a field with Shetland ponies in near the school where it was spotted and they would be clearly unhappy if it was around.

"I'm not disputing something was seen but out of the corner of your eye its easy to make a mistake. I've done it myself," he said.

He explained that panthers eat three to four kilos of meat every day and he would expect reports of sheep, ponies or large dogs being taken to satisfy its appetite.