August 1, 2008
An African lion, female, directly above.
Lioness on a road, by Dick & Monique Smit, Henk & Liz Egbers, S.A.
An American panther, puma, cougar or mountain lion, gender unknown, directly above.
Lioness on the road at Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Florida Panther on the Loop Road.
Last night, July 31, 2008, at about 9:53 p.m., a member who calls himself “rantingredneck,” on The Firing Line, which subtitles itself “The leading online forum for firearms,” mentioned a new sighting of an African lioness (example, shown top above):
A couple of days ago a fellow who works for me informed me that his aunt saw a lion in their hay field. Not a mountain lion, mind you (which technically we’re not supposed to have here in NC [North Carolina, USA] anyway), but a full on female African lion. Or lioness if you prefer.
They called the county sheriff’s office and a deputy came out to take a report, by which time the animal had moved along. While the deputy was taking the report, however, another call came in from a property down the road of the same thing. Now this would sound impossible were it not for the fact that there is a sanctuary for lions, tigers, and other exotic animals only a few miles from this property. Did one escape? Who knows?
This has apparently not been reported in the news as I can’t find any story on it anywhere and I’ve searched. No further information from my friend yet on whether the animal has been seen again or whether any investigation has taken place regarding the sanctuary and taking a head count. From what I hear the sanctuary does good work, but some residents have been a little uneasy about having it in their backyard for obvious reasons.
If there is anything else reported or if anyone runs across a story of lions on the loose in Caswell Co. NC, please post a link.
The freaky thing is, I routinely hunt that property, including bowhunting. Don’t think I’ll be hunting there this season until firearms season comes in. Can’t carry a pistol while bowhunting or muzzleloader hunting.
So, what .357 mag load for lions????
I have reproduced most of the genteman’s posting, for commentary and research purposes, as this is quite interesting.
The first question that came to mind was, how does the eyewitness positively know this was so clearly a female African lion versus a puma/cougar?
I have other questions, but I stop there for now, and open the floor to comments or other North Carolina reports coming in of mystery cats.
[Please note, feel free to add your comments only about the report and these types of Mystery Cat accounts, not about the hunting, not on the nature of firearms, no jokes about the name the guy calls himself, and avoid demeaning references to people from the South. If you wish to see your comments here, please limit yourself to a discussion about the cryptid nature of “African lions” in America. Thank you.]
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
Filed under Alien Big Cats, Breaking News, Cryptomundo Exclusive, Cryptotourism, CryptoZoo News, Cryptozoologists, Cryptozoology, Eyewitness Accounts, Mystery Cats