What if America’s wilderness hides a predator science won’t acknowledge? In this episode of Dark Outdoors®, author Michael Mayes—known for his work Shadow Cats—joins us to dig into the controversial and chilling reports of black panthers roaming across the U.S.
For decades, eyewitnesses from Texas to the Appalachians have sworn they’ve seen something impossible: massive black panthers prowling the woods, stalking farmlands, and vanishing into the shadows. Yet, mainstream science insists such creatures don’t exist in North America.
In this thought-provoking episode of Dark Outdoors, we sit down with author and researcher Michael Mayes to explore the mystery at the heart of his book Shadow Cats. Together, we examine chilling accounts, folklore, and the deep cultural roots of black panther sightings. Are these elusive predators a product of myth, mass misidentification, or could there be something truly hidden in America’s wild places?
Expect a conversation that pushes beyond campfire tales—diving into history, biology, and the unsettling implications of predators that may walk unseen. Whether you’re a skeptic or a believer, this is one episode that will make you think twice the next time you walk into the woods after dark.
Are they black mountain lions – black cougars?
Are they black jaguars?
Are they jaguarundi?
Are they escaped exotics?
What about the mysterious black longtail?
Take a deep dive on black panthers with us.
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Some are saying it’s a jaguarundi—a small wild cat once native to South Texas and long rumored to still exist in isolated pockets. And honestly, I can see why people would think that. The descriptions match up: long-bodied, dark-colored, with a tail nearly as long as the body itself. It’s the kind of profile that some say matches a jaguarundi.
Jaguarundis are one of the least known cats on the planet. Although short, they grow fairly long and someone seeing one of these cats could easily label it “black panther”. (USFWS Photo)
But before we jump to conclusions, let’s take a breath.
I’ve been studying these kinds of sightings for decades, and while I don’t doubt the sincerity of the witnesses, I always encourage a cautious approach. Jaguarundis haven’t been officially documented in Texas for quite some time. That said, I do believe there are some in Texas but there is another cat with a similar appearance.
In my own work, I’ve coined the term “black longtail” to describe what some people mistakenly call “black panthers” in Texas and elsewhere. The cats I am talking about obviously aren’t melanistic leopards or jaguars but they also don’t neatly fit the normal domestic house cat category. They’re something else. I’ve collected dozens of firsthand accounts of black, long-bodied cats that defy easy classification.
So could the Seguin cat be a jaguarundi? It’s possible. Could it be a black longtail? Just as likely. I’ve even considered the idea of large black domestic cat hybrids or escaped exotics playing into these stories.
The reality is, we don’t have conclusive photographic or biological evidence yet. What we have is an intriguing sighting that fits a pattern I’ve seen before.
If you’re in the Seguin area and have seen something similar—or have clear photos or videos—I’d love to hear from you. These mystery cats continue to fascinate me, and every report helps build a broader understanding of what might be out there.
Whether it’s a surviving pocket population of jaguarundis or another chapter in the black longtail mystery, one thing is certain: Texas still holds wild secrets. And I’ll be here, doing my best to uncover them.
Gulf Great White Shark Documentary Premiee-You’re Invited!
A documentary from award-winning wildlife journalist & conservationist Chester Moore.
A mysterious great white shark sighting out of Sabine Pass, TX leads to a 20-year investigation from the Texas Gulf Coast to Cape Cod. This proves the true apex predator of the Gulf of Mexico is returning to southern waters in a big win for ocean conservation.
Sightings of “black panthers” are common in the United States, especially in Texas and the Southeastern region.
The problem as I covered in part 1 of this series is that there is no such species as a “black panther” anywhere in the world.
What about the large black cats seen in zoos and on television programs? Those are black leopards or black jaguars.
Update Oct. 03, 2025: Best Black Panther Photo Ever? Video Below.
Melanism occurs when an excessive amount of black pigment dominates coloration of an animal. It happens in many animals ranging from squirrels to whitetail deer. Melanism is not uncommon in leopards in certain parts of their range. This is also true with jaguars. The black cats you see in zoos and on television are all melanistic leopards or jaguars.
The general assumption with “black panther” sightings in America is that these are black or melanistic cougars. The problem is there has never been a melanistic cougar observed by science either in a zoo, captive setting, killed by a hunter, mounted by a taxidermist or otherwise positively identified.
For melanistic cougars to be the answer to America’s “panther” question there would have to be many of them, and there is no proof of any of them.
A melanistic jaguar. Notice the spots still appear on the cat but they can only be seen at certain angles. (USFWS Photo)
Update Jan. 1 2024: We have begun an eight-part series on on YouTube channel on black panthers. Here are the first two episodes. Subscribe to teh channel to get all of the updates in the coming weeks.
Jaguars, however, do throw melanistic offspring and are native to Texas, western Louisiana, New Mexico, Arizona and California. They were wiped out north of Mexico more than 100 years ago, but a few individuals have been verified moving in and out of New Mexico and Arizona. And over the years, I have fielded three Texas jaguars reports I believe, two right on the Mexico line and one about 100 miles north of it.
Recent research shows that melanism is a dominant trait in jaguars. In other words, if a male jaguar for example moves into an area and starts breeding females there is a good chance much of the offspring will be melanistic as well.
In the many photos captured on trail camera of jaguars crossing back and forth from Mexico into New Mexico and Arizona, there have been no black ones. (USFWS Photo)
Could a remnant population of jaguars survive that has the dominant melanistic genes? There is no way that’s an answer for the entire “black panther” phenomenon, but it is not out of the range of possibility for some of the sightings reported throughout the years.
It’s unlikely but within the realm of possibility.
Melanism is also present, albeit rare, in bobcats.
Melanistic bobcats have been killed and mounted in Texas. In fact, one by taxidermist Steve Moye was mounted leaping at a quail and hung in the Gander Mountain sporting goods store in Beaumont, Texas for the better part of a decade.
My experience shows that many people cannot differentiate between a bobcat and a cougar. Many are surprised that bobcats have tails at all. In fact some have tails as long as eight inches. A black bobcat could easily be labeled a “black panther” by someone who is not aware of melanism in the species.
USFWS Photo
In fact, I was sent a photo of a black bobcat back in 2011 that the reader believed was a “panther”.
I fault no one for not properly identifying animals or having questions. I consider it an honor and a privilege to get to check out the hundreds of photos sent my direction. But my conclusion is people have a very hard time identifying cats in the wild.
Besides people who don’t understand basic animal identification, the biggest problem in misidentifying cougars and bobcats is scale. A large bobcat seen at a distance with nothing to compare it to, looks much larger than it really is.
The jaguarundi is another prime candidate for “black panther” sightings. A large jaguarundi in the common dark gray or chocolate brown phase, crossing a road in front of a motorist or appearing before an unsuspecting hunter could easily be labeled a “black panther.”
Jaguarundis are one of the least known cats on the planet. Although short, they grow fairly long and someone seeing one of these cats could easily label it “black panther”. (USFWS Photo)
Because very few people are aware of jaguarundis, it’s highly unlikely they would report seeing one. Everyone can relate to a “black panther” and virtually no one has ever heard of a jaguarundi.
These cats are native to Texas (and all the way south into South America) but there has been no verified sighting in years. I do believe as some research suggests, there are isolated pockets of them north of their currently accepted range.
Is the jaguarundi responsible for many “black panther” reports in the United States?
No way.
Are they the source of some sightings?
I have no doubt.
Some suggest the “black panther” sightings are the result of a “circus train” crash where its animals got loose. This story has been repeated over and over in Texas, and throughout the South with exact locations changing with the retelling.
Have circus trains wrecked? Yes but the idea black panther sightings have anything to do with them is ridiculous. Hessels, L. (Nederlandse Spoorwegen), fotograaf
I find no evidence of this.
If black leopards were to escape, the chance of them surviving and producing offspring wide-ranging enough for a phenomenon like this to take place is beyond far-fetched.
Additionally, why would only black leopards escape? Where are the lions, tigers and elephants?
Considering the bulk of a wild cat’s hunting skills are taught, this is not even remotely likely.
There is no way there are hundreds, if not thousands of black leopards running around the country due to a circus train crash. So far, all intensive re-wilding efforts of tigers have failed so how could circus leopards escape, survive and create a nation-wide population?
Isolated cases of exotic cats escaping have occurred, but in my opinion they are not the source of many sightings in Texas or at any other location in North America.
In my opinion the majority of these black panther these black longtails of domestic lineage discussed in part 1 of the series, standard cougars seen in low light conditions, black bobcats (because we have proof they exist), jaguarundis in parts of their historical range and I even leave the door open for a few of them even being jaguars.
The thing people have to consider is we are dealing with cats, not some creature with unknown abilities.
I have personally been sent hundreds of game camera photos of bobcats. Cougars which are one of the planet’s most elusive animals show up on game cameras in the American West all the time and even super rare and shy animals like snow leopards are common on these cameras set by researchers.
A cougar looking quite intense. (Photo by Chester Moore)
So, if these mysterious cats are all either black cougars or black jaguars why does no one get a clear daytime trail camera photo or even a clear night shot? The same exact areas have cameras getting pictures of bobcats and standard cougars so why are the black ones so elusive?
I don’t believe they are.
I believe the main answer is the “black longtail” of very domestic lineage discussed in part 1 of the series. I have seen many of these photos and even captured one on camera myself.
MOULTRIE DIGITAL GAME CAMERA (Photo by Chester Moore)
It’s not an exciting answer if you want this mysterious cat to be something more grand than a feral and perhaps even evolving version of Felis catus but in my opinion it is the clear answer for a vast majority of sightings.
Something else to ponder there are “black panther” sightings throughout the UK, in Australia and other areas with no indigenous leopards or jaguars.
Ask yourself what cat is very common in these areas that is commonly black?
Yep, Felis catus.
I will be doing more features on this topic and communicating with biologists and genetic experts on how feral cats in the wild might be adapting and changing in ways that makes them as wild as any leopard.
You never know what you’re going to see traveling through the Texas Hill Country at night. Sometimes you come across a true mystery animal.
Geoffrey Bennett submitted these photos (after posting on his Facebook) of an animal his brother saw and was able to capture these images of as it climbed a rock wall.
Exact location has not been given nor would we give it but it’s safe to say it is in the beautiful limestone-encrusted Edwards Plateau.
On the initial posts several people chimed in with thoughts including jaguarundi, ringtail and lemur.
It’s definitely not a ringtail or lemur.
Jaguarundi was my first thought at seeing the photo below but after seeing the next one in the series I am convinced this is a kinkajou (Potus flavus). These rainforest dwellers are the only member of the genus “Potos” and are sometimes called a “honey bear”.
Photo courtesy Jeffrey Bennett
The tail is what tipped me off. Kinkajous have a prehensile (climbing/gripping able) tail and this one is curled up. I have a kinkajou at our Kingdom Zoo: Wildlife Center and his named is “Irwin”.
Photo courtesy Jeffrey Bennett
His tail is always curled up.
Plus the body and head just look kinkajou and if you look close enough you can see what looks like a collar.
Our kinkajou “Irwin” taking a nap in his hide.
If this is a kinkajou, what is it doing in the Texas Hill Country?
They are common animals at zoos and wildlife parks and are not a rare pet. In fact, for those who like exotics they make a much smaller and generally safer pet than say a lion.
My suspicion this is someone’s pet that escaped.
What do you think of the identify of this cool-looking animal?
Post your comments below.
Have you seen anything like this? We’d love to see the photos.
We appreciate Mr. Bennett giving us access to these pics and sharing this unique encounter with us wildlife lovers.
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