August 1, 2009
As you will recall, earlier this year, it was reported that “lions” were being seen in Georgia (see here). Some of these, it now appears are “maned lions” in Hall County.
Several of the reports described, not a mountain lion but what people seem to think was an African lion.
We found some consistency in those reports. So we went there and set some traps but didn’t catch anything.
In all of these big cat sightings, our first thought is that we’re probably, if we’re dealing with a legitimate, accurate report, we’re probably dealing with something that someone had a role in being there.
The reports were geographically close by, and, on a timeline, they was enough time for one animal to get from Point A to Point B. And the descriptions that people gave of the animal were consistent between the four reports.
After the original reports and story, it’s been a mismash of reports. We did have a horse killed and the big cat was suspected. We did have a cow attacked and the big cat was suspected.
Scott Frazier, wildlife biologist, Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
Are these Panthera atrox or escaped African lions? Even when these cats are taken, we might not know.
Look at what happened in 2002.
These existing photos of the two killed Arkansas lions (mostly one is shown), for September 23 and 24, 2002, were of “mystery cats” found and killed. They were said to not be escapees or pets. But then DNA sampling was not done, and both bodies were destroyed. Clearly the photos show a maned felid. What species were they?
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, CryptoZoo News, Eyewitness Accounts, Mystery Cats