Mafia boss’s black panther escapes into southern Italian town

Police in southern Italy are searching the area after reports of black panther sightings arose on Wednesday.

The mayor of Castellana Grotte issued a stay at home order telling locals not to panic, “but be prudent.”  Other local mayors followed suit with Davide Carlucci in Acquaviva delle Fonti advising farmworkers to stay out of the fields.

He also stated that the panther could have escaped the residence of a local mafia member who keeps the exotic animal as a pet.  The mayor told La Stampa, “If that’s true, someone should confiscate everything he has.”

The local residents believe that the owner may have been copying popular mafia-based TV show Gomorrah, where one of the characters had a panther in his Naples residence.

Roberto Surico, a soon-to-be vet, was able to catch a glimpse of the escaped animal outside Acquaviva delle Fonti.  “It seems scared and confused,” Surico stated, ” and the first thing I thought was that it had been raised in a house.”

In January 2020, in the San Severo area of Foggia, there were multiple panther sightings.  Italian officials now believe this could have been the same animal and has since been fending for itself.

source: thesun.co.uk