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Loading ...Black Panther’s in Arkansas?
On June 26,2009 I drove over to Hot Springs via Hwy7, on the way back around 5:45 pm I was driving down a stretch of road 12 miles north of Jessieville and a huge animal crossed the road in front of me. I was about 300 yds from it and at first I thought it appeared to be a bear but as I came closer it was was way to long and slender to be a bear. I am 5′8″ and it stood almost to my waist high. It was black in color and not brown. There was also a SUV behind me and they saw the same thing. So if it wasn’t a bear then what could it be? I have read several articles that says black panthers don’t exist in North America.
I’ve already got several responses… It was not a dog nor a house cat and yes at first site was bout .1 to .15 tenths of a mile from me but I got a lot closer before it had crossed the road and that’s when I realized it was not a bear… I know for a fact it was a Panther but why does everyone say there is none in Arkansas. I’m not an idiot to the outdoors. Just wanted input…my grandfather was an old wise man and had seen one many yrs ago in Johnson county, Clarksville to be exact.
Oops looked at calendar wrong, was June 19th… to error is human.
FYI :The Mountain Lion is known by several other names: cougar, puma, catamount, and panther.
Posted in Hot Springs Arkansas | 
Tags: animal, Arkansas, bear, black, black panther, black panthers, Hot Springs, Hwy, jessieville, june, north america, Panther, road, stretch, Way, yds
9 Responses to “Black Panther’s in Arkansas?”
people say they dont exsist because they are VERY rare but they do exist… you are lucky you got to see one!!
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Report your ordeal to Arkansas Game and Fish. Steve “Wild Man” Wilson has talked about these sightings before on KARN News Radio 102.9 FM.
The Holy Bible
God, Jesus Christ, who is also God, and the Holy Spirit, who is also God.
Jesus is Lord.
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i live in owosso michigan, and we had one killing dogs and eating geese just outside of town, i dunno what happened to it. My friend’s neighboor has video of it.
The Holy Bible
God, Jesus Christ, who is also God, and the Holy Spirit, who is also God.
Jesus is Lord.
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Wait, it’s june 22 right now. How the hell did you do this on this coming Thursday?? but anyway i’ve never seen panther in arkansas (i live here) perhaps you saw a mountain lion under a shadow??
i live in arkansas
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Every sighting as turned out to be a black dog, a house cat whose size is misinterpreted, or a cougar in bad light.
There’s no evidence for ‘black panthers’. There are no black cougars, and there are only black leopards and black jaguars, and there are no jaguars in Arkansas.
It’s just much more likely you saw a cougar or a dog than a new species. And even then, cougars are very rare in Arkansas.
i live in arkansas
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Arkansas has them….They have always been here
I walked towards one …I thought was a black cat….I was about 15 steps away from it…..It was in the crouch position Looking towards the back of my back yard ….There were baby turkeys out feeding……It wasn’t until his tail came around his body and laid on the ground…that I stopped dead in my tracks….his tail was the length of his body!!
It was a black Panther…..Mountain Lion to some…..But, the very same!!
Your not crazy…….When you see one…..it might take you awhile to realize what you saw….but, once you realize what you saw…….you know it to be fact !!
These Black Cats have been here since people started moving into Arkansas….and they will always be here !!
i live in arkansas
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Arkansas has them….They have always been here
I walked towards one …I thought was a black cat….I was about 15 steps away from it…..It was in the crouch position Looking towards the back of my back yard ….There were baby turkeys out feeding……It wasn’t until his tail came around his body and laid on the ground…that I stopped dead in my tracks….his tail was the length of his body!!
It was a black Panther…..Mountain Lion to some…..But, the very same!!
Your not crazy…….When you see one…..it might take you awhile to realize what you saw….but, once you realize what you saw…….you know it to be fact !!
These Black Cats have been here since people started moving into Arkansas….and they will always be here !!
i live in arkansas
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‘Panther’ or ‘black panther’ are names commonly used for a melanistic leopard – that is, a leopard with an excess of the dark pigment melanin, resulting in an almost totally black coat. Leopards are native to Asia and Africa, not North America, but of course there is the possibility that the one you saw was an escaped or even deliberately released pet or zoo animal. In the UK, where I live, such large black cats are sometimes reported, and are thought to be the descendants of pets released in the 1970s after a new law required you to have a licence to own one. This would explain the frequency of black individuals, since humans breed curiosities like melanistic animals far more often than they would occur naturally.
Some people also refer to melanistic jaguars as panthers. Jaguars are native to South and Central America, but in recent years a few have been caught on camera traps in the extreme southern US. Since normally-coloured jaguars are far more common than melanistic ones, it’s far more likely that any jaguars making their way into the US will be normally-coloured rather than melanistic, but the possibility is there, and again there is the chance of escaped or released captive individuals.
The only cat in the US large enough to be mistaken for a leopard or jaguar is the puma, also called the cougar, mountain lion, catamount and so on. The subspecies found in Florida is often called the Florida panther, though it is not black – pumas are generally golden-brown, but the shade can vary from almost grey to almost red. Melanism is possible in any species, so black pumas are not impossible, but they are extremely rare – almost unheard of, in fact. If you saw a melanistic puma, you are very lucky.
I am not doubting you saw something, but are you quite certain that it was feline, and not a bear, wolf, dog or suchlike? For example, did it have a long tail? If you are sure it was a cat of some kind, are you sure it was definitely black, rather than just appearing black because it was in silhouette or covered in mud?
Here are some images – do any of these look like what you saw, in shape and/or colour?
Leopard:
http://imgcache.allposters.com/images/RHPOD/743-44.jpg
Black leopard:
http://www.dkimages.com/discover/previews/884/25052695.JPG
Jaguar:
http://bbg-aura.gaia.com/photos/47/462880/large/PV-Jaguar-InJungle-WaterMirror.jpg
Black jaguar:
http://dinets.travel.ru/bjaguarmexl.jpg
Puma:
http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/game/cougar/graphics/cougar4.jpg
I used to be a zookeeper and have studied animals all my life.
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the above poster is 100% correct
I used to be a zookeeper and have studied animals all my life.
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