The mystery of black leopards in Kansas!? (Junction City, Gardner: 2009, to buy)

[_redbird_]

I lived in northeast KS in the late 80's to mid 90's and know someone who shot a mountain lion with a bow on the Pottawatomie Indian reservation.

Here is a story on how far they can travel.

"Some of the young vagrants travel great distances and may be briefly seen by numerous people as they transverse hundreds of miles in a period of months. One of the most notable records--which should logically be regarded as a Kansas confirmation--is of a young male lion trapped and equipped with a radio transmitter and collar near Spearfish, S.D. It was last known to be in the northwestern corner of the Black Hills in September 3, 2003. It was then killed by a train and recovered near Red Rock, Oklahoma in May 2004. In a period of less than nine months it traveled a (straight line) distance of 660 miles from its homeland. It undoubtedly traveled south half the width of South Dakota, across Nebraska and Kansas and then into Oklahoma. Red Rock is located approximately 40 miles south of Arkansas City, Kansas."

excerpt from:

Mountain Lions in KS

[lkroseb]

I grew up in Southwest Iowa, right on the Missouri border. My dad used to do work at the truck scales on I-29, just north of Rock Port, MO. I remember him coming home one night in the late '80's telling the story of a large black cat sitting in the Bluffs just east of the scales. They could see the cat sitting and watching them, and took out the binoculars and watched it. He said it was big and nothing like he had ever seen before. Not a little house cat for sure.....

Sounds like there are lots of BIG kitties in the MO/KS area.

[_redbird_]

Originally Posted by rnc76

Again, cougars don't come in black. The black panthers that are in Southern Mexico are jaguars, an entirely different species. Black jaguars are rare in nature, the ones in ciruses have been inbred repeatedly to get the black coloring. I highly doubt that wild jaguars have migrated from southern Mexico to Kansas without having been seen somewhere in between.

Here is yet another possible answer.

Jaguarundis are known to range from South America to the Mexican borders of Texas, Arizona and New Mexico. The key word here is "known". That means scientists have observed or captured the species within those areas, however they are reported to range much farther north in the Lone Star State and perhaps elsewhere.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) officials solicited information from the public and received numerous reports of the species in the 1960s, including several sightings from central and east Texas. Additional sightings were reported from as far away as Florida, Oklahoma, and Colorado


Source: Project: Zoo Quest: There is no such species as "black panther"

It is very likely a few could travel up to Oklahoma as our winters are getting warmer and warmer in the last decade.

[nillik]

I had a friend who went to college out that way and captured one as a cub and raised it up...scarriest thing you ever wanted to see whipping past you in his back yard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Just because people started building houses doesn't mean the animals are going to
move. We have Jaguars here, not often but they are here. If they want to walk North I'm sure they will.


Mt lions are all over CO, why would'nt other big cats there? You never see em unless you are out at night.

[Chris19]

There have been mountain lion sightings in Eastern South Dakota and Northwest Iowa. There was one found in the Yankton, SD area that was in city limits and underneath a camper/vehicle. This is not a common sight up here, but it sure made the TV news. Most of these four-leggeds come from the Black Hills (probably due to overpopulation there, mating, or wandering). They make some of the farmers nervous, and understandable so, with the potential of these big, overgrown kitties attacking cattle. South Dakota has held a mountain lion season to thin down the mountain lion population in the state due to the concerns of increased sightings.

I am not as familiar with the black leopards, but am sure that climate change and populations of the species may be why they migrate into areas where they are not as common.

[GrahamCtyKSGirl]

I grew up in Nicedomus, KS and I saw plenty of wild cats in plenty of shapes, size and colors during my 18 years of growing up there. I saw a black (whatever you want to call it) long, slinky looking cat digging in one of our trash cans in my back yard and this was during the day. This is the closet I came to a cat that is not supposedly found in KS. I thought I was seeing things for a while or my mind was playing tricks on me. However, after several times of leaving the window and coming back and it was still out there, I knew I was not crazy. One day someone will get a picture and then what!!!! We know what we see. There are all kinds places for wild animals to hide in Kansas. Miles and Miles of hiding spaces. The animals have figured it out, one day man will realize it also. (Once they see if for themselves)

[charlotteT]

I live in SE kansas (Cherokee county) When I was about 10 my brother and I were fishing in our pond and in the field behind our pasture we seen a panther. Scared me to death.

[Mary 714]

Never heard of them in Kansas, however, during the 1960's at Grand Lake of The Cherokees in Oklahoma, I was told that there were black panthers prowling about the area at night.

[quesera]

Originally Posted by Mary 714

Never heard of them in Kansas...

Well, now you have. They're here, probably have been forever, but they're elusive creatures, so are hardly seen. What is seen, is the evidence they've been somewhere, by the cattle being lost to the predator.