7/12/11

Confirmed Black 'Leopard' Sightings in Ohio



Three sightings of a black leopard have been reported in the southwestern Ohio area of Dayton. The director for the wildlife education group Outreach for Animals says that the last sighting was in April of 2011.

The authorities claim that people in the area own these kind of wild animals and that one must have escaped.

It was only after internet buzz about the leopard that the authorities came forward with their confirmed sightings on July 11th, 2011, three months after the last sighting.

According to the US Humane Society, Ohio is one of only 10 states that does not regulate wild animals.  Those regulations are currently under review at Governor Kasich's Administration.

Black mystery cats have been witnessed in Ohio in recent decades Black Panther Sightings of Ohio and in just the last few weeks, there have been reports of another kind of big cat; mountain lion sightings have been logged in the eastern half of Ohio in the Canton area and in New Concord near Zanesville area (see below).

On June 6th, Canton closed their park due to several mountain lion sightings. Mountain Lion Scare Closes Ohio Park, June 6th 2011

Cryptozoologist Loren Coleman asks if these black cat sightings could be "Panthera atrox, or an unknown melanistic cryptid puma," and not a black leopard?

Story SourcesCryptomundo  ABC6


Other Ohio Mystery Animals . . . 

Duck killed by Mountain Lion in Canton Ohio?

Search for Mountain Lion in Canton Ohio

Mountain Lion Scare Closes Ohio Park, June 6th 2011

Ohio Mountain Lion Attacking Livestock Near Zanesville?



16 comments:

  1. I believe these mountain lions live here. I have seen 2 myself.

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  2. Thanks for the comment. Where do you live? :-)

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  3. I Live in dayton.... gulp

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  4. I was visiting my brother in Germantown, Ohio tonight and was greeted by a large black cat. It ran across the driveway and into the woods. It was bigger than a german shepherd and it was the fastest wild animal I've ever seen. My brother said he has seen it twice now.

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  5. That is an alarming story for an Ohio resident like myself. Thanks for sharing.

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  6. I saw a large dark cat, too big to be a housecat, against the snow in the Cuyahoga Valley National Forest near Richfield, OH last winter. It was following the deer that live in the valley.

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  7. I was doing storm work in akron ohio in 2007 a gutter job about 15miles out of town when I saw a large black cat slinking through the forest, It was roughly 80lbs and a little longer than a german shepherd, At the time I had no previous knowledge that this had been an ongoing thing in the area because I am from chicago, I told everyone that I was working with and was laughed at, 2yrs later I saw an episode of "monster quest" that was about this very black cat and I immediately called everyone I was with and had them watch the episode.... I felt vindicated after that and can tell you that this is no joke and I have seen it with my own eyes.

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  8. Having lived in south east Ohio my entire life, I had never seen anything or known anyOne who had seen one before. It was in the spring of 2007 when I first heard one in the woods behind my house. When you hear a big cat, there's no mistaking that low rumble in their call. After first hearing it, I convinced myself I was mistaken and put it out of my mind. A couple months later my husband and I both heard it. The scream of it's call and the low rumble in it's voice. Not long after that I finally seen it one day not far from my home. I moved away and had not thought about it for years until recently some old neighbors heard it again. They said it echoed through the holler where they live. I think some people hear about it and that makes them believe they see it, but its different when you see or hear something that you never knew existed. I've never been a believer of any local tales until the day I seen it with my own eyes.

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  9. I also live in southeast Ohio. My boyfriend and I were on the porch a few months ago and heard a very deep growl, cry, growl. I have owned cats my whole life, this was no cat. He had heard something a few months ago, but I just didn't believe him. He couldn't really describe it, but I know it scared him. It was like a scream, but very deep. We live in the country, no other houses around. Then, last night we were on our way home, and about a mile from our house a large cat ran in front of my car. It was very fast, but wasn't running full speed. He didn't even see it. It was like it blended into the road. I don't think it was pure black, couldn't tell if it had a tail either. It was bigger than a cyote, but it was lean, which makes me think it wasn't a bobcat, since they are stalky. I turned around to try to see it again, but it was gone. It was very...stealthy. Like I said, it was going very fast, but was still in a "trotting" pace, not full out "gallop". And it was a very smooth gait, not bouncy like a cyote. I really hope to see it again, or even better catch it on one of our trail cams...

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  10. I live in zanesville near the avondale wildlife area...last week a neighbor spotted a momma bob with 3 cubs!! And this is not the first sighting of this type of cat in our area.

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  11. i live in pike county oh, on the south eastern side near the Jackson county line. we have a very large black cat roaming the farm lands throughout our rural community. we know approx. where it's lar is. we are in the process of setting up trail cameras to further prove this creature exist. will give more info. when we have it film. trace..... 9/12/14

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    1. I grew up in pike county.we lived at the head of camp creek. I've had Panthers follow me out of the woods from hunting.the one I saw was about5 or 6 hundred pounds. Stood about4ft at the shoulder, and was about 6ft long and had a tail the same length..

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  12. Years ago, there have been reports of very large Black Cats. Also some reports of Bear.
    In and around the Pike county Ohio area.
    Approximately 40 years past, I witnessed a Timber Wolf that supposedly had been shot while the Wolf was in pursuit of a farmers live stock.

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  13. NEWTON'S TOWNSHIP HISTORY


    Newton Township was organized about 1825. It lies west of the Scioto River, one of the valley townships with good farmland in the bottoms and hilly to the west. The main part of Sunfish Creek passes through, as well as No Name Creek. The highest elevation is Panther Knob just below Jasper, elevation 663 feet. this hill supposedly got its name because the last panther found in the area was killed near the top. Other high hills are Jasper Knob and Yankee Hill.

    Jasper Village was laid out by Gov. Robert Lucas in 1833, named for a Sergeant Jasper who was a Revolutionary War hero. Jasper was a thriving canal town during the busy era of the Ohio - Erie Canal. Farmers brought their produce into the village, along with hand-cut ties and lumber, to be shipped north and south by barges, which were pulled along the towpath by mules and other beasts of burden. Residents of Pike County still call Rt 104 between Waverly and Portsmouth "The Towpath".

    The first Post Office was established in Jasper in 1837, with John G. Alexander as Postmaster. Since one of the first businesses was Phelps and Alexander, the post office was probably located in their store. (?)

    Township Trustees in 1838 were Nathan Hitman, John Alexander and Joshua Adams. J. G. Alexander was Clerk.

    A small hamlet was laid out in 1860 by the Rev. Hampton and given the biblical name of Bethel.

    Pleasant Valley Methodist Church was organized in 1831 and meetings were held in the log cabins of different members until a church was built in 1858 with Jonathan Flood as the first official minister.

    The Jasper Methodist Episcopal Church was established in 1845. The members met in homes or the log school until 1857. Some of the ministers were: John Booten, Joseph McDougal, Thomas Shropshire and C. B. Smith.

    Jasper lay along the line of Gen. John Morgan's march during the Civil War and was looted of most of its "portable" goods. One man by the name of McDougal was killed.

    During Jasper's busiest days, there were several stores, a saloon, and a blacksmith shop. Early stores were Phelps and Alexander, Butler and Curry, and Truesdell and Jones.

    When the early settlers came into Pike County, they settled along the waterways. With roads scarce or non-existent, the creeks and rivers were needed as means of transportation, along with supplying water needed for daily use. First the Scioto River frontage was settled, then larger creeks, such as Sunfish, then the smaller branches. Sickness drove many from the lowland areas to were Peter Skill and John Merritt.

    Back to Newton Township

    Back Township Index

    COPYRIGHT © 1990 by
    Pike County Genealogical Society
    a Chapter of O. G. S.
    P O Box 224, Waverly, Ohio 45690

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    1. I was raised in pike county, ohio, at the head of camp creek, just past McCann's road , about 2 miles before you junction with state rout 772. first time I saw a black panther, was when my Dad, brother, cattle buyer and myself we calling the cows down out of the woods, and they just wouldn't come to the barn. we called and called. the









      i looked up on the side of the hell and the it stood, looking down the hill at us. it was standing in the haul road. we called for our hunting dogs. the panther turnd its head back in the direction it was headed and moved off into the brush. its body was as long as the haul road was wide. about 1 foot wider on each side of the trail as our ford Ferguson tractor was. the panthers nose was at the edge of the brush on the right side of the road and his butt was even on the left side. as he walked into the brush his butt reached the edge of the brush, his long black tail was comming out of the brush on the left sid of the haul road. had him/she follow me out of the woods once, after trying to do some ground hog hunting. it started screaming, and i thought it was my Dad, trying to scare me. I thought about shooting up in the air with my 410 shoot gun, but didn't because Dad always told us boys, never shoot at anything unless you sure of what it is, and I was afraid Dad would take my gun away from me. i went to the house and told Mom what had happened and she, Dad had been asleep, every sense I had left. S i went back and checked for tracks, and sure enough. their they were. where my tracks were, in the cultivated tobacco field, i made about a 1 inch depression. the cats tracks were about 2 inches deep or deeper. we seen it about 6 times or more, around our farm, and heard it 3 times. i know one thing, its one fast panther










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