Panther still a mystery
Published Tuesday October 21st, 2008
Did Restigouche hunters actually shoot a real Eastern panther?
Seekers of the mystical Eastern panther are used to wild-goose chases being the sole result of their pursuits of the big cats that are said by some to be prowling New Brunswick's massive forests, but as panther stories go, this one sounded a little more credible than most.
The tale is spreading like wildfire around the province.
A group of hunters who spent several days in the wilds of Restigouche County recently came upon a deep brown-coloured animal in their midst. The critter seemed to be a coyote, so one of the hunters shot it.
As it turns out, the animal wasn't canine, but feline, a very large cat indeed -- an eastern panther, long thought to be extinct.
The hunters put the animal in the bed of their pick-up truck and headed home, but stopped for gas on the way and showed off their kill at a gas station. As luck would have it, there was a set of scales at the service station so the hunters along with a group of men hanging around the station hoisted the beast onto the scales where the big kitty weighed in at a whopping 160 pounds, or 73 kilograms.
The hunters, reportedly from a First Nation located somewhere between Campbellton and Miramichi, then went on their merry way.
As compelling as the story is, complete with about a dozen witnesses, it seems it's yet another unconfirmable tale in the ongoing debate over whether wild Eastern panthers still roam among us.
Don McAlpine, curator of zoology at the New Brunswick Museum in Saint John, has heard the tale.
"There's some effort being made to track it down," McAlpine said, noting there are 30 to 40 reports every year from people swearing they've seen such an animal, and occasional reports that someone has shot one of the elusive beasts.
Another person who asked not be named but who has knowledge of the case as well as of New Brunswick fauna in general has also been asking around about the story but has made no progress.
A number of game wardens in the north of the province were asked about it, yet they hadn't even heard about it. Neither had the person working at the garage yesterday where the hunters supposedly weighed the animal, nor had any of the locals hanging around outside.
If it exists, scientists would salivate over the chance to examine an actual panther.
There is evidence of cougars in New Brunswick. In 2003, hair collected in Fundy National Park showed two cougars, actually: one of North American descent, the other consistent with a South American cat. However, the jury is still out on whether one of the samples came from an actual Eastern panther, with most scientists believing the hair came from cougars that are common in western Canada and South America that had been kept as pets, but had either escaped or were released.
Most believe the Eastern panther has been long ago rendered extinct, at worst, or at best only remnants of a population still exist, if that.
As for the story currently making the rounds, evidence so far is that it's yet another of those stories that are absolutely true, because someone's brother's cousin's neighbours' coworker actually saw it with their own eyes. Or maybe it was a friend of that coworker. And no, no one remembers the coworker's name. Or knows where he works. Or where he lives.
And if someone has actually shot the first Eastern panther in New Brunswick since 1938 (and even that one hasn't been proven to be an actual Eastern panther,) they are keeping it very, very quiet.
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There is no mistaking one for a coyote or Bob Cat. They are a dark tan cat shape that moves like a cat does with a large long tail that will occasionally touch snow between their tracks when they move, they leave a Cat track much larger than Bob Cat or Lynx.
We saw all ours in Kings County.
oh that's right, they're too busy looking for those BIG criminals....you know, the ones with only one license plate.
That being said, I'll now tell you how I really feel — heed your own advice about sticking to the story and spare readers your ill-informed, backhanded, and arguably racist (see line that says: I'm damn sure it has inherited rights to hunt for food more then any treaty these A-holes have) social commentary on native hunting rights.