People will never stop admiring cats: the way they walk, the way they play or the way they hunt. From simple domestic cats – to powerful tigers and majestic lions – they all possess a simple but unattainable grace, and black panther is, probably the best example. Black panther is a black color variation of an animal we call a panther. But in different countries different species bear this name. When we’re talking about panther in North America, we mean a cougar, while for Latin America panther stands for jaguar, and in other regions it is the second name of a leopard. But while existence of black leopards and jaguars are proved – there is no such certainty about black cougar that is supposed to inhabit North America.
There are no proved cases of truly black cougar though people from such states as Kentucky, South and North Carolina, Kansas, Texas and Nebraska report the sightings of black panthers. Biologists and breeders consider black cougar to be a myth they suppose that people misidentify the animal they see. In Florida two dark furred bobcats were caught. Their fur seemed to be black but at closer examination it turned out to be of chocolate and mahogany tint. Also there exists another species – jaguarundi, that looks like a cougar and has a dark fur. So, probably there are no black panthers in the North America. Nevertheless, Black Panthers exist in the folklore of many Indians and together with an owl it symbolizes Death. Also there are a lot of video clips that tend to multiply our doubts. It can be compared with the problem of existence of the Bigfoot - nobody knows for sure. May be the black panther myth is not a myth at all?
June 22nd, 2009 at 5:48 am
I am 51 years old and live in western North Carolina. I have seen large black cats (25 to 65 Lbs) in the wide, several times in this area. Generally along river basins.
September 29th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
I am 58 yrs old and I saw a large black cat with a very long tail cross in front of our car back in about 1956 in North Florida in an area called Hickstown Swamp between Madison amd Greenville, Fl. It had a very long tail and was a big or bigger than a German Shepherd dog. My mother had stopped the car on the dirt road and it calmly walked across the road in front of our car. Also some friends of mine that live a few miles north of Blountstown , Fl also saw a large black cat with a long tail in about 1995. It was marking a tree at the back of the field behind their house early one morning. The local sheriff at the time lives nearby and has seen it also, along with a neighbor who is a local MD. My friend is a Marine LT Col. He got a good look at it through his rifle scope. Fla wildlife officials say there is no black panther but I have seen one with my own eyes.
October 1st, 2009 at 3:16 pm
I almost ran into a black panther with my car in Craven County, NC about ten years ago. I was so shocked that after I stopped the car I had to just sit for a moment and gather myself. I looked at my friend who was in the car with me and asked her if she had seen it and she had. We immediately went home to research it and it was definitely a black panther. I grew up in Carteret County and I’ve lived in Craven County, NC all of my adult life. I’ve had encounters with huge black bears, water moccasins thick as a human thigh, bobcats that would scare the socks off of you with there screech, six-foot alligators, and snapping turtles that would be happy to take a few toes off, but I had never seen a black panther before. I would have never expected to see a black panther and I’m still shocked when I remember it.