Black Panther Hoaxes: Circus Train Wrecks

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Todd Jurasek photographed this mounted "black panther" in Oklahoma but on further examine said it was a cougar dyed black.

A hoax has been perpetuated on American wildlife enthusiasts and it centers on the existence of the black panther.

There is no such species recognized as “black panther” anywhere on the planet much less in the United States of America.

The “black panthers” seen in zoos, wildlife demonstrations and in media are melanistic (black) leopards and jaguars. They are anomalies within these species and not a separate one altogether.

There is no large cat on the planet that is officially recognized as a “black panther”. The only ones that qualify are the aforementioned melanistic leopards and jaguars. And there are no black cougars.

Other than a grainy black and white photo from Costa Rica in the 1950s there has never been any real evidence of a black cougar (mountain lion, puma, panther) killed by a hunter, mounted by a taxidermist or born at wildlife facilities around the world. At least none that I have seen and I have investigated this phenomenon heavily for more than 20 years.

If melanistic cougars were the source of the thousands of black panther reports in America the sizable captive population would have already shown melanism. We have even verified an albino cougar born in Europe but melanism is not in the cards in my opinion.

Fellow investigator Todd Jurasek heard about a large black cat mounted at a restaurant in his home state of Oklahoma from researcher Glenn McDonald.

What he found is what he believes is a black cougar that had been dyed black.

“I saw on the hind parts what looked like areas where the dye didn’t take or is wearing off. It definitely looked like a cougar and didn’t have any spots like a melanistic jaguar or leopard would have,” he said.

Todd Jurasek photographed this mounted “black panther” in Oklahoma but on further examine said it was a cougar dyed black.

After Todd checked it out and reported to his source,  McDonald  provided two links to taxidermists who have in recent years created “black panthers” from cougars to show that it has been done. I also found a couple.

You can check different versions here and here.

If this were a truly black cougar I would be ecstatic but I just don’t see it.

Cougars do come in a range of brown colors with some being an almost chocolate color. Such a cat seen in low light conditions could certainly appear as a black. Young cougars are darker in color than their parents and come with spots and on occasion they keep some spots and darker coloration into their first two years of life. These could also potentially be a source “black panther” reports.

An extremely prolific theory is that many years ago a circus train crashed and black leopards escaped and gave birth to the black cats reported throughout the country. The problem is there would have to be a male and female. Then they would have to survive, produce young and those offspring survive.

Considering the bulk of a wild cat’s hunting skills are taught, this is not likely.

There is no way there are hundreds, if not thousands of black leopards running around the country due to a circus train crash. So far, all intensive re-wilding efforts of tigers have failed  so how could circus leopards escape, survive and create a nation-wide population?

Then again, I have heard about these crashes all over the place so maybe there was an epidemic of them and somehow no lions or tigers (or elephants) escaped and bred, only black leopards. (Sarcasm mode turned off.)

Let’s go ahead and scratch the circus train theory.

So, what are the cats people are reporting seeing around the country? We will investigate in the next installment with some interesting photographic evidence.

Until then check out my mini-podcast on the topic and ponder the following question.

If there is a black panther hoax who is perpetrating it?

Chester Moore, Jr.

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6 Comments

  1. derek says:

    LOL…..Well you keep on believing that its a hoax . I have seen 3 in my life , yes what I call ” black panther ” If it is a hoax there is people
    going through a whole lot of trouble to capture mountain lions and painting them black lol . I have friends that have recorded them while deer hunting and of course wildlife dept ‘s always play it off like its some ones black house cat . One of the 3 I have seen came running at me because I disturbed is hunt for a cow in a field behind my house , so what else is completely black , as big if not bigger than a mountain lion and is killing full grown cows ? I will say it probably hard for most people to believe because they are so nocturnal that not many people get to see them much less get pics of them and there is not many left but I can assure you they are real

  2. derek says:

    LOL…..Well you keep on believing that its a hoax . I have seen 3 in my life , yes what I call ” black panther ” If it is a hoax there is people
    going through a whole lot of trouble to capture mountain lions and painting them black lol . I have friends that have recorded them while deer hunting and of course wildlife dept ‘s always play it off like its some ones black house cat . One of the 3 I have seen came running at me because I disturbed is hunt for a cow in a field behind my house , so what else is completely black , as big if not bigger than a mountain lion and is killing full grown cows ? I will say it probably hard for most people to believe because they are so nocturnal that not many people get to see them much less get pics of them and there is not many left but I can assure you they are real

  3. Art Waters says:

    Buzz kill…….?

  4. Emil Krejci says:

    I and a friend personaly saw a black panther in Uvalde Co trying to creap upon a turkey hen in the summer of 2014. Then again in 2016 is stood in the middle of the road as I was going the barn. My brother shot one back in the 1950 in Colorado Co while deer hunting near Weimer, Texas.

  5. Emil Krejci says:

    I and a friend personaly saw a black panther in Uvalde Co trying to creap upon a turkey hen in the summer of 2014. Then again in 2016 is stood in the middle of the road as I was going the barn. My brother shot one back in the 1950 in Colorado Co while deer hunting near Weimer, Texas.

  6. Emil Krejci says:

    I and a friend personaly saw a black panther in Uvalde Co trying to creap upon a turkey hen in the summer of 2014. Then again in 2016 is stood in the middle of the road as I was going the barn. My brother shot one back in the 1950 in Colorado Co while deer hunting near Weimer, Texas.