Each year, hundreds of people in Alabama and across the southern United States claim to see what appears to be a solid black, large predator cat in the wild. Most people call this a "black panther." Panther is simply another term for a mountain lion. So are pumas, cougars, and wildcats. Biologists and wildlife officials are always quick to point out that mountain lions have never been documented to have a solid black or melanistic phase. This genetic mutation supposedly only occurs in jaguars and leopards, neither of which are native to the United States. Officials usually attribute sightings of black panthers to regular domestic house cats or native bobcats. Bobcats can be solid black. Could a few of these "black panther" sightings actually be black bobcats? This is certainly a theory worth investigating.
Solid black, or melanistic bobcats have been officially documented. They have been studied extensively in the everglades region of Florida. They have also been officially documented in eastern Canada, although scientists believe they are more common in humid, tropical, and densely vegetated habitats. Alabama forests are certainly humid and dense. The video below was recorded in 2002 in Blount County, Alabama. It appears to be a solid black bobcat.
The bobcat is native to all of North America. It gets it's name from it's distinctive short, bobbed tail. That particular feature makes the bobcat easy to identify. But, if an eyewitness were to see a solid black bobcat in the wild and couldn't see it's tail, could it mistakenly be identified as a black panther? That's possible. An adult male bobcat can weigh from 18 to 40 pounds - the same as the average coyote. That's a big cat compared to the average domestic housecat which only typically weighs around 10 pounds.
It looks like the melanistic, or solid black bobcat, may be a possible theory for a few of the "black panther" sightings in Alabama and the southern United States, although it certainly doesn't acount for all. As for now, the majority of black panther sightings will remain a mystery.
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