Suspected Florida panther may be escaped pet puma
Published in Cats & Dogs News
(UPI) Wildlife officials in Florida said a suspected panther captured in a residential neighborhood might actually be an escaped pet puma.
Rob Klepper, a spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said the animal, which was wearing a collar, was initially thought to be a Florida panther when it was captured in a Parkland neighborhood on New Year's Day.
Klepper told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel the identification may have been "premature" and tests are now being carried out to see if the animal is genetically similar to wild panthers in Florida.
He said investigators now suspect the feline to be a puma that was being kept as an illegal pet. He said no one with a permit to keep wild cats has reported one missing, and no permit holders are located in the area where the animal was found.
The cat, believed to be less than a year old, is being treated as "an escaped, illegally possessed captive animal."
Copyright 2019 by United Press International
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