Pontrhydfendigaid, called Bont by everyone who lives there, is a village in the upper Teifi valley near the ruins of Strata Florida, surrounded by sheep farms, forestry and open moor. In 1995 something began killing its sheep.
Over the course of that year around fifty sheep were killed in the district. Often the carcass was eaten almost entirely, leaving little but bones and scraps of wool. Vets who examined the remains said the animal responsible was more powerful than a fox or a dog. Witnesses described a big cat standing about two feet tall, and many locals were convinced it was a puma or a leopard, perhaps released or escaped from a private collection. Dyfed-Powys Police officers swept the area but found nothing. The territory, more than a hundred square miles of hill and forest cut through by valleys, offered endless places to hide.
The Beast of Bont was never caught, and no animal was ever identified. It became the best known of the Welsh big cat stories, and the name has been brought out again by the local press whenever mid Wales farmers report unexplained sheep kills in more recent years.
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