Fife residents are being asked to be on the lookout for a big cat.
It follows three separate sightings in just five weeks of what enthusiasts believe is a lynx.
All three sightings took place within a ten mile radius in West Fife in August and September and the Big Cats in Britain group believe all were of the same animal.
The creature was first spotted by a man in Culross on August the fifth. He was looking out of his kitchen window when he saw what he described as a sand-coloured cat with a white underbelly, around three or four feet in height and up to two and a half feet tall.
On September 10, a dog walker reported seeing an animal with a similar description on a quiet country path between Cairneyhill and Valleyfield.
Then, just two days later, the enthusiasts were contacted by a police wildlife officer who reported a sighting of the creature beside the A909 in Mossmorran.
Bob Wallace from Dunfermline represents the Big Cats in Britain Group in Fife. He told STV news that all three people had independently given very similar descriptions of the animal.
He said: "I would think at that size, we're talking about a fully grown beast. Lynx are solitary animals and don't really hunt in groups. They're lone predators and that's what makes us think these are all of the same animal, given the time frame and the area."
He is now appealing for anyone else who may have seen the feline to come forward.
The group then hope they will be able to set up cameras which could help them capture images to help identify and track the creature.
Bob said: "We wholly believe that, for an animal of that size to have been in the area for that length of time, more than three people must have seen it and we're really appealing for those people to come forward."
"We don't want to trap or kill, we won't interfere with this animal in any way. We just want to try to identify it for our records so that we can plot any movement from further sightings in the future."
Residents in the west Fife region are now being urged to keep their eyes peeled for the big cat, which is likely to still be in the region.
However, Bob urged anyone who spots the cat not to approach it.
"We don't want people to be alarmed by this. It is a wild animal and it is, to a certain degree, dangerous, but if you leave it alone it will avoid you. They are not prone to attacking humans, in fact, the biggest thing it'll ever go for is a rabbit. But, like any of us, it doesn't want to be cornered and I would advise people not to approach it."
If you think you may have spotted a big cat, you can contact Big Cats in Britain via their website.
