Home

This picture (right)was taken off the wikipedia website and claims to be a black puma? Or is it a jaguar?

Black Pumas

Do Black Pumas Really Exist

There is no scientific evidence that black pumas exist in their native USA, although many people state that it is exactly that roaming the UK!
Only one picture exists of a so-called black puma which was taken by Miguel Ruiz Herrero in 1959 and was killed in Costa Rica. Although there is some debate wether the dead animal does actualy show a complete black puma.

While many sources state that truly melanistic pumas have been reported from South and Central America (all the standard cat books state this: e.g., Guggisberg 1975, Green 1991, Kitchener 1991, Alderton 1993), few provide the details.
Young & Goldman (1946, _The Puma: Mysterious American Cat_) wrote of a definite black puma shot in Brazil in 1843 (though no photos exist). Tom Brakefield (1993, _Big Cats: Kingdom of Might_) had this case in mind when he noted that only one melanistic puma was on record.


Many of us have grown up from childhood with the Puma sportswear logo depicting a black cat and the word 'puma.'
This is a contributing factor as to why many in the UK believe that the puma is black.