Residents in a city in northern France had quite the scare over the weekend when a young black panther found its way into one of the apartments.
The animal, which weighed about 45 pounds and was about six months old, entered the building through the stairs before making its way into one of the apartments. A family with a 15-year-old daughter was at home at the time, and they ran away immediately upon seeing the panther enter the room.
Stunned households, as soon as they saw this guest, flew out of their property at the speed of a bullet. Thankfully, emergency services could detain the animal without any injuries or incidents.
Meanwhile, the owner of the panther is wanted by French authorities. Police want to talk to them about how he created danger for others and ask where they got the animal. Representatives of wildlife protection also want to know more about under what conditions the panther was kept captive.
A police source told La Voix du Nord that only a zoo would be able to obtain permission to keep such an animal. He said officers were ready to shoot the animal if it had become aggressive during the incident.
The black panther is a prominent cat family member and is a melanistic leopard or jaguar. They are not separate species; their coloration is due to a genetic mutation. Black panthers are native to Africa and Asia, but they have been sightings in North and South America. It is illegal to own a black panther in France, and anyone found guilty of doing so faces up to six months in jail and a fine of up to €75,000.
