Others, however, were not convinced, and suggested it was simply a larger-than-usual house cat.īut Mr Welsh is sure about what he saw, and believes the animal may have been attracted to the area by the abundance of local wildlife to eat. A third viewer wrote: 'It’s clearly a panther, look at the size of it'. One person commented 'looks like a black panther”, while another quipped: 'that’s no house cat'. He found plenty of fellow believers after sharing the footage on a Facebook group dedicated to Scottish big cat sightings, where several people agreed on the species. To be quite honest with you, most will think you mad, but these things are out there, as a certainty.'

I’ve seen ‘em plenty of times, I’ve seen lynx, I’ve seen panthers, I’ve seen crossbreeds – they’re all over the place, trust me. He commented: 'From the way it was moving, the tail size and that, it was slightly like a panther, but it could be a crossbreed. You can report sick, injured or dead panthers to the FWC here. If you see a live panther, try to snap a photo or video and report it to FWC here.Gordon is one of Britain’s big cat believers, who claim that the UK has its own wild population, including panthers and pumas, and said that this is not his first encounter. 'We want to be able to sustain panthers throughout the state and let them peacefully coexist with the human population,' Rizkalla said.Įxperts said panthers prefer areas with dense trees and shrubs they can hide in, and the cats typically move around after dark. 'We’ve had a lot of bobcats too around the area, and I think it’s because of all the neighborhoods they’re building around here,' added Jeff Burnett.Ĭonservation groups have been working to preserve natural land across the state, so panthers and other wildlife have protected places to live and thrive. 'I don’t see any hiding place they can hide easily, because a lot of orange grove used to be is now turned into subdivisions,' said Patel. However, FWC said the number one threat to panthers is habitat loss. The death marked 11 panthers killed so far this year on Florida roadways. RELATED: Florida panther killed in Polk County marks 11 deaths since start of 2022 A 2.5-year-old male was hit and killed by a vehicle on the Polk Parkway about two weeks ago. The panther prowling in South Lakeland is actually the second sighting this month, but the other one was not seen alive. He is going to try and find an area of his own, and so they're moving far and wide,' Rizkalla explained. 'Once a young panther grows up, it gets to be about two, three years old.

Panther prowling high grass