Originally Posted by Lanse couche couche

There have been quite a few reports of panther sightings in southeastern Illinois over the last couple years, albeit nothing documented. Both my parents claimed to have seen one a couple years ago near their home. I checked around a bit and found out that there had been a couple sightings during roughly the same period to the north and south of their place. Given how much ground panthers cover and the fact that there seem to be only a few of them in Illinois, it makes sense that you might get a string of sightings in one area and then nothing for a long time. I would assume that in the absence of an established local population of panthers they will travel a long ways, make a kill and stay in the general area of it until they are done feeding and then move on. Animals can cross the upper Mississippi River over the ice pretty easily during the rough winters. Given the documented Iowa panther population, it would make sense that more could be moving eastward.