Plaquemines Panther Prowling

Lousiana’s Plaquemines Parish Office of Homeland Security is informing residents of the East Bank of Plaquemines Parish that a large black panther is on the loose, Jay Vise of WWL reports.

In an automated recording delivered to East Bank residents, a spokeswoman for the Homeland Security office says the animal “is believed to be about eight feet in length.”

Officials warn residents to be mindful of where children and pets are, and if anyone sees the big cat, to call 911 immediately.

Parish authorities say the cat may be aggressive and people are recommended to avoid it, keep pets indoors.

WWL Outdoor Show host Don Dubuc, however, told listeners that it was unlikely it is a black panther.

“There has never been a confirmed sighting of a panther or mountain lion in southeast Louisiana,” Dubuc said.

“What we’re talking about here is the cougar, puma, mountain lion, panther, it’s got a lot of names, but it’s the same animal,” Dubuc said. “Its range is mostly out in the western part of the United States. We finally got some documented proof of some up in northern Louisiana, but there’s no reason to believe that they can’t exist in the Atchafalaya. However, this is a possibility that a large, wild cat could be roaming in Plaquemines Parish….if it were, it would most probably be a leopard. Leopards come in black phases, instead of spots, that is what is truly a ‘black panther,’ is in the leopard family. We do not have those indigenous to southeast Louisiana.”

However, Dubuc says it’s not out of the realm of possibility that such a large cat escaped from captivity aboard one of the many ships passing up and down the river, or was released from a local resident’s cage.

Here at Cryptomundo, we sometimes find the explanations for American black panther sightings to be more unbelievable than the notion there might be a mystery cat around. Circus train wrecks, circus trucks, drug dealers’ zoo escapees, and now ships passing in the night? Incredible.

Loren Coleman 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.

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