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 Sources - Cryptomundo ABC6
Other Ohio Mystery Animals . . .
Duck killed by Mountain Lion in Canton Ohio?
Mountain Lion Scare Closes Ohio Park, June 6th 2011
