Large black cat spotted again in South Bohemia: woman films the animal on video

Reports of a mysterious large feline predator continue to come in from the South Bohemian Region — witnesses describe the animal as a big black cat resembling a puma. On Sunday, a woman from the Tábor area managed to film the creature on video near the village of Dlouhá Lhota.

According to police spokeswoman Lenka Krausová, all the witnesses agree on one thing: this is neither a wild boar nor a large dog. Since black pumas don't exist in nature, experts suspect this could be a black panther — the melanistic form of a leopard or jaguar.

"Police have notified the mayors of nearby municipalities and are currently coordinating with the regional veterinary authority and hunting associations. We ask residents to remain cautious when walking near fields and forests," Krausová said.

Police say there is currently no information about a black predator having escaped from a zoo or private breeder. However, it's possible the animal was kept illegally and got loose, or that it was deliberately brought to South Bohemia and released into the wild.

This is not the first such sighting in the region. Two weeks ago, a woman spotted a black cat by the road near Ševětín in the Česke Budějovice district — she said the animal was just ten meters away from her. And last week, police received a call from a man who noticed a large black creature near a pond by Kvasejovice, not far from Soběslav.

Zoologist and honorary director of Dvůr Králové Zoo, Dana Holečková, notes that black forms of big cats do indeed occur in nature. "Both black jaguars and black leopards are bred in captivity, but I haven't recorded any such animals in Czech or neighboring zoos recently. That said, all these wild cats tend to be extremely elusive, though an animal that escaped from a breeding facility might behave with less caution," she explained.

Holečková also recalled a similar case from her own experience: a few years ago she was called in to check reports of a black puma allegedly escaped from a zoo. "At the time we had four pumas in our collection, all sandy-colored — the normal coloring for the species. But when I got to the scene, I found a beautiful, large, entirely black Newfoundland dog," the specialist recounted.

Since the exact nature of the animal has not yet been established, police are urging the public to exercise maximum caution. Anyone who spots a large black animal should call 158 immediately, and under no circumstances approach it or attempt to catch it themselves.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz