Look at All These Black Panther Sightings in Texas

“I felt it was about time to update everyone on the latest black panther sighting reports I have received over the last several months. The reports just keep coming and some real areas of interest are beginning to present themselves. I am hopeful that, as reports continue to come in to me, that a hard pattern will emerge and I can zero in my time and efforts on a specific location in an effort to document these animals.

Before we begin, let me repeat a few things that I have said before. I know that there is no such animal as a “black panther.” The known big cats that have been given this moniker are either African leopards or New World jaguars exhibiting melanism. So, when I use the term “black panther,” realize it is a colloquialism, a catchall phrase, if you will, that is commonly used in Texas and the Deep South to describe any large, black or very dark, long-tailed cat.

Now, on to the reports.

7/26/14
“I live in Mexico (in an area where jaguarundis are called leoncillo- little lion-) and I have seen a stuffed specimen so big it dwarfed all the jaguarundis I’ve seen in zoos (or photographs for that matter). It was so big in fact I thought I was looking at a small puma at first (and I can tell them apart). I’m not going to say the place, but I do believe those particular mountains may be the home of the largest jaguarundis in the world, as apparently this was not considered a freak by the locals but a perfectly normal individual.

My point by saying this is that scientists don´t know everything, and regular people make a mistake whenever they accept their claims as absolute; I have read many books on jaguarundis and none of them mention specimens as big as the one I saw- not even close. But I saw the giant specimen and so has anyone who has been to that place where it’s displayed; therefore, those giant jaguarundis do exist; it doesn´t matter that the educated “experts” sitting behind desks in London or New York are not aware of their existence.”
- Curupira

TCH Comment: This is a very interesting assertion; however, as no photographic evidence of the mounted specimen, or the location of said mount, was provided, I must take this claim with a grain of salt. Let me be clear, I am not accusing Curupira of being untruthful but I need more in order to feel good about his claims. If there is such a large specimen and the location is known, then getting a photo of it with something in the shot to provide scale should not be too difficult. 

I do agree with Curupira that there is a certain institutional arrogance among mainstream science. Certainly, science should not merely accept the existence of large melanistic cats without some sort of proof, but there is a fine line between demanding evidence and having a completely closed mind. For now, I will not be including this report on my distribution map.”

To read more of these reports, click here.