Oklahoma panthers?

Question

are their panthers in oklahoma because my friend doesnt think so his excuse is the park rangers dont have to study over panthers in oklahoma.so is their

Answer 1

There are some Jaguarundis there.

Jaguarundis are known to range from South America to the Mexican borders of Texas, Arizona and New Mexico. The key word here is "known". That means scientists have observed or captured the species within those areas, however they are reported to range much farther north in the Lone Star State and perhaps elsewhere.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) officials solicited information from the public and received numerous reports of the species in the 1960s, including several sightings from central and east Texas. Additional sightings were reported from as far away as Florida, Oklahoma, and Colorado

http://www.anomalist.com/features/jag.ht...

Answer 2

ANECDOTAL HISTORY

Historical Accounts of Several Large Mammals in Oklahoma

Records mentioned mountain lions among many other mammals seen in 1800 near the Alfalfa-Major County line. Payne wrote that in February 1883, panthers, wild cats, prairie dogs, and jack rabbits, etc., were found along the Canadian River in McClain County, central Oklahoma. Sitgreaves and Woodruff , during their travels through Oklahoma in 1858...

http://digital.library.okstate.edu/OAS/o...

From a column:

Fourteen readers took issue with my column last week about the mythical black panther or black cougar in Oklahoma.  State wildlife officials say there is no proof such a cat exists, but plenty of Oklahomans swear they've seen one.  In the interest of fair play, here is a sampling of their stories:

Becky Duckworth, 40, of Edmond, saw what she believed was a black panther just six weeks ago in the Tanglevine Addition at Covell Road and Midwest Boulevard, east of Interstate 35.  "I saw it as clear as possible. It was right in front of my headlights. It was only about 10 feet in front of me. It walked very slowly.  "It was sleek, it really appeared to be a black panther. It didn't run away and wasn't scared of my car. It was right in my headlights coming toward me. I, for sure, have seen one."

Annell Thompson, 33, of Oklahoma City, said she and her mom encountered a black panther about 20 years ago while driving on a country road near Bromide, south of Ada.  "This thing was not a dog. It was one of the biggest black panthers I have ever seen. (It) walked right out in front of my mom and me.  "If the game wardens say these things do not exist, I don't how they can call themselves game rangers because I know they exist. I have seen them."

Bob Trail, 69, of Coalgate, said he spotted three black panthers six or seven years ago.  "They was in Atoka County. I can even take them (the game wardens) where they was at if they want me to. It's not a myth. They are here." Larry Grim, 61, said he didn't believe the black panther stories until he saw one a year ago on a country road between Glencoe and Morrison.  "This thing was black. It was a panther. They are up in here."

Said Gregg Price, 40, of Davidson: "There is nothing bogus about physical evidence of what does exist. When I still lived on a farm in the Rush Springs area in the 1990s, I witnessed one of these so-called bogus sightings!  "A litter of pigs I had just bought was killed -- literally slaughtered -- even played and toyed with. First, the paw prints, then the strides of this bogus cat were measured.  "Second, we tracked and later spotted this "bogus" cat. Was it a bogus sighting? Not according to my eyes, those slaughtered pigs, or my pocket book."

Micky Marsee, 45, of Purcell, said he crossed a black panther's path in 1969.  "Ed, I would have to agree with you on your article in Sunday's paper if I had not seen with my own eyes what I saw. No, I don't believe in UFOs, and I've never seen Bigfoot and I have hunted all my life.  In 1969, my family and I were driving around the Lexington hunting area below Lake Dahlgren when a black panther or big cat of some kind jumped into the middle of the road and stopped and looked at us.  "Now, I was 10 at the time, but my parents, aunt and uncle were there. The cat looked at us for 10 to 15 seconds before leaping on across the road.  "The cat was only 35 to 40 yards in front of us. We had time to get a good look at this animal, and this cat was 4 to 5 feet long from head to tail and 21/2 feet tall.  "We reported the cat to the head ranger at the time, and he point-blank told my dad that he knew the cat was there because he had seen it, too.  "I now hunt up and down the South Canadian River and I have never seen another cat since that day, but I have seen some cat tracks bigger than bobcat tracks in the river bottom and you will never make me believe big cats don't move up and down our river systems."

http://www.bfro.net/GDB/show_article.asp...

posted by Mark Banta on April 11, 2005  (Wetumka is in the boonies)

I don't remember the exact date, but it was during deer rifle season of 1999. It would have been in late November. I was living in the country about 5 miles southeast of Wetumka, Oklahoma. In the evenings, I would often sit on my front porch and watch the deer that would appear almost every night about an hour before sundown. This evening was no different. There were several deer that came out of the creek bottom about 300 yards away from me. I went inside the house and got my .270 rifle. I didn't intend to shoot them, but I did want to have a better look at them through the scope. Anyway, as I recall, there was a small buck and several does feeding on the far side of the field and I was periodically looking at them through my scope. After about 10 minutes of this, I noticed something come out of the creek bottom that appeared black. My first thought was that it was a big, black dog. It appeared about halfway between the deer and I...about 150 yards from my location. I knew something was odd about the way it looked, so I put my scope on it. I was very surprised at what I saw.  

I had my scope set on 9 power and still had very good light, so I have no doubt about what I saw. It was a large black cat, very similar in appearance to a black panther. It appeared to be about 4 feet in length with a tail at least 3 feet in length itself and maybe longer. It was sleek black from head to toe. I'm not very good at estimating weight, but I would guess it was between 150 and 200 pounds easily. It appeared quite muscular and very healthy. It had a box shaped head. Like I said before, everything about it looked like a black panther to me.

The cat took a few steps out of the tree line, then hunkered down in a crouch. I continued watching in awe through my scope as the cat began a slow stalk towards the deer on the far end of the field. It would take a few careful steps, and then go motionless. This continued for about 10 minutes with the cat only traveling maybe 50 yards in that time. Then one of the deer must have spotted it, because they all suddenly took off to the east and disappeared into the treeline. The cat slowly rose to its feets and trotted back into the creek bottom near the same area it had entered the field.

Needless to say, I was quite taken back by this sighting. It was unexpected, although I had heard several reports of black cats growing up in Oklahoma. I got to asking around and told my story to a few people. I found that I was not the only one who had seen a black cat in this area. Apparently, there have been many sightings. My uncle shared with me a sighting he had in the same general area.

http://www.cryptozoology.com/sightings/s...

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These animals could be black Jaguars, which are believed to have ranged North America in historical memory. Melanistic Jaguars aren't common in nature, and more importantly, Jaguars themselves were hunted to near extinction in the '60s. However, while they do not look exactly like Cougars, they have the requisite size. The Jaguar has had several photographically confirmed and many unconfirmed sightings in Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and southwest Texas, but not outside that region.

http://www.answers.com/topic/panther