Jerel Hall of Huntsville, TX has created quite the buzz after posting a picture online of what he claims was a black panther roaming on his property.
Hall told the Houston Chronicle the photo was taken from around 120 to 150 yards away, and that he estimated the animal to be between 80 and 100 pounds.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has quickly stepped in to debunk Hall’s claim, however, stating that “there is no such thing” as a black mountain lion, officially known as the “Puma concolor species.” The creature Is also known as a black puma, cougar, and panther.
They say the animal simply does not exist, and that while dark-skinned jaguars and leopards do exist, "neither of those are in Texas."
Dana Karelus of the department said that the last documented jaguar in Texas was in 1948. Karelus believes the animal in the photo is a house cat, even though she said it’s hard to confirm the animal's species due to the image quality, but it is "certainly not a mountain lion based on the tail length."
Hall claims this is the second black panther he’s seen on his property, with his first encounter coming nine years ago when he saw the animal attack a herd of feral hogs.
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