AMERICA'S BLACK PANTHERS

Where do these Black Panthers spotted in America come from?  Escapees?  Part of a worldwide epidemic whose origin is a mystery?  Perhaps  not.

Could it be that they have always been there, maintaining a low profile?  They are unlikely to be black pumas, which have only been recorded in a solitary isolated case.  But the Indians knew of a black felid, distinct from a puma.  Couls such a thing still be out there?

The Indians spoke of the black Devil Cat, distinct from the puma, but very much to be feared.  It would carry off children.  

In early times in Maine there was said to dwell the Wooleneag, bigger than a wildcat and black in color.

On totem poles in British Columbia there is a depiction of the black How-How, different from the puma.  The Indians assert it still  exists.

Is this the origin of America's Black Panther?  It was always there, but never officially discovered.

Sources: Devil-Cat: North American Biofortean Review; Wooleneag: Coleman Mysterious America 1st ed,:How-How: Shuker Mystery Cats of the World 1st ed.