Are there panthers in Louisiana

Answer 1

Wildlife & Fisheries would say no, but I live in Southwest Louisiana & I have seen black panthers twice in my lifetime, so yes they do live in Louisiana, although there may not be a lot of them or they may not be seen often. Both sightings I saw were near heavily wooded areas. One sighting was around dusk when I was a child at a friend's home who had lived in the country with thick woods behind her home, but my friend & I were the only ones who got to see it run through the back yard. And the other sighting, I was an adult, it was very late at night & we lived in a newly developing area that was still considered country area at that time, had thick woods across the street from our house and all around the neighborhood...I woke up because I had heard a noise, I walked towards the back sliding glass door & saw a black panther eating out of my dog's food bowl (as we used to feed the dog outside & stopped at this point), the panther looked up at me & was in very close range with only a glass door in between us, but I guess I startled the panther just as much as it did me, it made eye contact, & was gone just as fast. I did not know that people truly did not believe panthers live in Louisiana, or that it is common for people to report seeing these animals to authorities, maybe I would have reported it to someone then, that has been approximately 10-11 years ago. Maybe I will get some cameras to see what animals come around late at night while we all sleep.