The Original Florida Panther Was Black

I am a Florida native. My family goes back before Florida was a state.

I used to see the panther in Inverness (see map) when I was a child and they were black, they are now the color they are because they were cross bred with the cats from out west.

This happened back in the 1950s and the 1960s. Someone (a native Floridian) from Arcadia, Desoto county brought them here to keep the Florida panthers from becoming extinct.

THANKS FOR THE INFO anyway.

CJ


Hi CJ…. Interesting. Wild Cats Of The World, probably the best book on wildcats says that in Florida the most commonly seen puma is black (black panther). However, they also make the point that the biologists “insist that there are no black panthers in Florida..” They are sure of this because most of the pumas in Florida are radio tagged, photographed and followed since birth.

The argument is that people mistake large black domestic cats at a distance with the black puma.

However, I find what you say interesting, CJ, because you have first hand experiences.

Thanks for sharing.

Best

Michael

Inverness, Florida:


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4 thoughts on “The Original Florida Panther Was Black”

  1. The author of the best comment will receive an Amazon gift of their choice at Christmas! Please comment as they can add to the article and pass on your valuable experience.
  2. in july of 1960 after high school gr60aduation i went to fort lauderdale to look for employment and on route in on 41 stopped at a roadside menagerie which has a okechobee black panther as part of the exhibit.while only weighing about sixty lbs it was very muscular,shiny black coat an was asleep or dozing,one of the group i was with poked it with a branch to awaken it, no sudden movements when is awoke just looked at my friend and growled and extended its claws,its eyes were green.most beautiful cat i have ever seen.only time i saw him,his pads were bigger than my hands with claws extended made me glad he was caged i am 82years old and have never seen any animal more beautiful or capable of the damage he would do

  3. So true, saw a black panther in 1985 off Alligator Alley…the USA gov has even brought scrawny tawny panthers from Texas more recently than 1950-60, they are pathetic compared to the black panther which was not in danger of extinction, but did suffer from a narrow gene pool…

    The gene pool issue could be solved with better breeding management, but it was cheaper to bring in faun Texas Panthers, leading to possibly real extinction…

    The only hope is there are still sightings of black Panthers in Florida and other parts of the USA to this decade.

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