The Canterbury Panther or Canterbury Cat is a New Zealand

urban legend Urban legend (sometimes modern legend, urban myth, or simply legend) is a genre of folklore concerning stories about an unusual (usually scary) or humorous event that many people believe to be true but largely are not. These legends can be e ...

about a

black panther A black panther is the Melanism, melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical Rosette (zoology), rosettes are al ...

which is said to live in the

Canterbury Region Canterbury () is a region of New Zealand, located in the central-eastern South Island. The region covers an area of , making it the largest region in the country by area. It is home to a population of The region in its current form was estab ...

with sightings going back to before the 1970s.

In Popular Culture

The search for the Canterbury Panther served as a thematic framing device for the second season of the

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

comedy/conspiracy theory podcast ''Did Titanic Sink?'' hosted by

Tim Batt Tim Batt (born 19 August 1987) is a New Zealand-based comedian and podcaster. He co-hosts The Worst Idea of All Time podcast with fellow NZ comedian Guy Montgomery and was nominated for a Billy T Award in 2014 and 2015. Early life Batt grew ...

and Carlo Richie in July and August 2024. The legendary panther features prominently in the 2024 film ''Bookworm''.

References

New Zealand legendary creatures New Zealand legends New Zealand folklore Mythological felines Urban legends Individual animals in New Zealand {{NewZealand-culture-stub

In Popular Culture

See also

References