Natural History

Posted in wildlife | Tagged alien big cat, black panther, British big cat, leopard | 3 Comments

3 Responses

1. on August 17, 2010 at 10:05 am Lane Batot

   The whole big-cat-sightings phenomenon is very interesting, just as are the Bigfoot/Yeti/Alma/etc. sightings. Unlike the big bipedal apes, the chances of actually seeing a big cat in an area they are not “supposed” to be in, is very possible! Captive animals escape or are purposefully released or dumped all the time. no doubt some survive for awhile, perhaps even a fairly natural lifespan, and pass away without anyone even knowing they are around(officially)–I especially believe this is possible for the incredibly elusive, adaptable leopard. Why we HAVEN”T gotten an established breeding population of them in the U. S.(especially in the South), is probably a miracle! And it may yet happen. The commoness of “black panther” sightings would lead one to believe that perhaps there was–but then you SHOULD be getting as many or more sightings of the more common spotted variety, but you don’t. And sorry folks, there are NO BLACK COUGARS(also colloquially called “panthers”)–not that a melanstic color phase for them is impossible, but it would be rarer than even albino cougars! In all the records of hunters, biologists, and the kuhzillions of people that breed them in captivity, there is no verifiable record of a black cougar(puma, panther, painter, catamount, mountain lion–whatever you wish to call them…). If it were TRULY a black panther out there, it would have to be a black leopard, or maybe a jaguar…….

   
   
2. on August 18, 2010 at 10:18 am Richard Ashworth

   Well Jaguars did range as far north as the Grand Canyon in historical times, and are also known for their melanism, so who nows, maybe jaguars are reclaiming areas they previously inhabitated.

   
   
   • on August 18, 2010 at 2:07 pm retrieverman

     We have had a few jaguars pop up in the Southwest in recent years. The last one died last year.

     Here’s a good site on northern jaguars:

     http://www.northernjaguarproject.org/who-we-are/faq

     
     

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