An almost-black Florida panther has been photographed in the Everglades. It might provide the long-awaited explanation for hundreds of “big black cat” sightings throughout the Southeastern USA in recent years. It is known that Eastern cougar population is rebounding, but until now there was no evidence that melanistic cougars existed at all, so black cat sightings were either ignored or suspected to be other species. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=577410745665040&set=a.139211826151603.30380.127332010672918&type=1&theater
Related Articles
-
New Marine Mammals Guide
charleswhood, , General Mammal Watching, 0
A book that I got in US edition but I think also coming out in UK is titled “Marine...
-
Tiny Trip Report – 2.5 Hours spotlighting for Caracals in Southern(ish) Israel
tomeslice, , General Mammal Watching, 0
We set out to find a Caracal, which is the animal of the year (in the Tomerian Calendar). Here is the...
-
Mammal books
Richard Webb, , General Mammal Watching, 0
I’m trying to thin out my overloaded bookshelves and have a number of mammal books that I am selling,...
-
New species
Jon Hall, , General Mammal Watching, bats, pikas, taxonomy, 0
Two new papers of interest: (1) splitting trident-nosed bat into 3 spp., one of them completely new; (2) claiming multiple...
-
Sichuan and Alaska
vdinets, , General Mammal Watching, 0
Dear All, I might be able to travel to Sichuan and Alaska in February-March, for about 9 days each....
-
A Mammal Watching Tip in Costa Rica – Bosque Del Cabo Resort
tomeslice, , General Mammal Watching, 0
I think the mammal watching community is mostly familiar with Bosque Del Cabo in Costa Rica, partly thanks to Alan...
-
Voles of Anchorage
vdinets, , General Mammal Watching, 0
I just spent a few days at a conference in Anchorage, Alaska, and had time to explore some of...
-
Big-eared bats taxonomy
vdinets, , General Mammal Watching, 0
As all of you know, the taxonomy of Palearctic big-eared bats (Plecotus) has recently been completely overhauled, with numerous...
Subscribe to mammalwatching.com
Recent Posts
- LAST MINUTE AVAILABILITY: One space open on a Colombian mammal trip (starting in Bogota on 4 Jan)
- New Trip Report: Snow Leopards in the Sinjiangyuan Reserve, Tibetan Plateau
- New Trip Reports: Three Easy Mammalwatching Destinations (Monterey Bay, Fraser’s Hill & Queensland’s Dugongs)
- New Trip Report: Gabon
- Borneo’s Rare Mammals Tour – September 2019 – Trip Report – Royle Safaris
Recent Comments
- Mateusz Ciechanowski on Book Review: Handbook of the Mammals of the World Vol 9: The Bats
- Sebastiaan Bosma on Pygmy Hippo 2017: in search of a podgy unicorn
- Olli Haukkovaara on Thermal imager advice
- Olli Haukkovaara on Gear Review: Pulsar XQ50 Thermal Imaging Scope
- JanEbr on Looking for the jungle: Ecuador 11/2019 report
From what I understand about these pictures, this is a normal colored Florida Panther that appears dark because of the lighting.
Interesting pics. Since 1994 I have been a following cougar / puma / panther / mountain lion sightings and conservation issues in the eastern USA. Reports of black panthers have never been confirmed in North America but there have been a few recorded in Central & South America. So a darker than usual Florida panther is possile.
There’s nothing in the pictures to indicate that the cat could look darker than it was. The grass it’s on looks perfectly normal, the light is not into the camera. I’ve heard it said many times that all sightings of big black cats in the Southeast are a result of light conditions, but nobody has ever proved that such an effect is possible. I’ve seen more than a hundred big cats in the wild, and not a single one of them ever seemed black, except for the few that really were.