Cat killed in Missouri identified as leopard

Cat killed in Missouri identified as leopard

www.usatoday.com

NEOSHO, Mo. (AP) — Missouri state biologists say a big, black cat killed by a sheriff's deputy has been identified as a juvenile leopard.

James Dixon of the Missouri Department of Conservation says the cat was identified by the St. Louis Zoo.

Newton County Sheriff's Corporal Donn Hall shot the animal when it charged him on May 19. A woman had reported the cat was scratching at the door of her home near Neosho.

Leopards are native to Africa and Asia.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Well so there is something to the story's of big black cats roaming wild in the USA. If it had been a tame cat it would have been valuable. If it was a tame cat I doubt it would have charged a human.

www.usatoday.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

That reminds me alot of the story of a women here in the UK.

She was in a Church yard when this black cat took a swipe out of her side.. left a real nasty clawing mark.

It escaped sadly, and every now and again folks will see big black cats through out the area.

Glad the deputy killed it though. Had that been a British Police officer he would be cat feed.

Felines are some of the most adaptable animals in nature, they will eat almost everything and survive lower temperatures than most people think. Also there has been, seen colonial times, a rather ilogical demand for big cats as pets. With more restrictive laws on possession and housing of these animals were just left out in the wild to their own devices. I suspect, for the UK at least, that, through feromone marking, they have managed coalesce and breed and now you have an indigenous population of big cats, perhaps even more than one, with a few species sharing the countryside. Brilliant. Don't let the kids stray too far from the house.

The US has always had big cats, and with the sprawling cities and towns more contact is inevitable. Not only that but the same situation as in the UK probably has happened, although due to the size of the land there might be smaller local populations of non indigenous big cats or all the cases being isolated.

This cat was declawed, so it was domesticated, but on the loose. After living life being fed and not havieng to forage like in the wild, this cat had no idea how to get food. It is sad that it had to be killed, but better the cat than a person. Still a cool thing to happen.

Sounds a lot like a story I heard on the news about a lady reporting a barking Dog stuck in the curbside sewer drain. When animal control went to get the dog out, it turned out to be a 12 ft. crocodile!

Originally posted by LDragonFire
Well so there is something to the story's of big black cats roaming wild in the USA.

i used to work in the groves here in Florida installing pump stations for irrigation, a lot of the groves are out in the middle of nowhere and are the home of a lot of wildlife.

I've seen deer, hogs, turkey, eagles, plenty of gators and a couple black panthers out in the groves, among numerous other wildlife. One was full grown and was crossing a road, and the second time I was with a co-worker and, again on a road, we saw two black panther cubs eating an animal that was killed on the roadway.

Black Panther - Wikipedia

I know plenty of people who have seen black panthers around here, as a matter of fact, I know more people who have seen black panthers than have seen brown/tan panthers.

They say there are no black panthers in Florida, but when I saw them I was with another person and it was broad daylight. I know what I saw, and so do the people I was with, they were black and they were panthers.

They are wrong! There are black panthers in Florida!

[edit on 6/22/2008 by Keyhole]