A Halloween mystery: State wildlife officials have no confirmation of a ‘big cat’ roaming the Helotes area
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The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) has not received any information confirming the report of a “big cat” in Helotes, according to the agency in Austin.
“Reports of various species of wild cats are frequently presented with images or videos, but most commonly they are determined to be domestic cats,” said Lerrin Johnson, TPWD spokesperson.
The Bexar County Sheriff’s Department searched the area around the alleged sighting reported by a woman this week on Facebook and found nothing.
Still, residents are encouraged to be careful with small household pets.
According to TPWD records, a cougar sighting has never been confirmed in Helotes. The closest sighting was in Government Canyon State Natural Area in 2013.
If anyone has additional evidence, TPWD asked them to send it to the local biologist for verification.
Texas has several species of native cats. You can find more information on this topic here.
Responsible precautions allow people and wildlife to safely coexist in Texas cities. Additional Homeowner Resources Available here.
Some people speculated that it could have been a jaguarundi.
“The last confirmed sighting of a jaguarundi in Texas was in 1986 in Brownsville,” TPWD explained in a statement. “The jaguarundi is believed to have disappeared from the wild in Texas, but still exists in Mexico.”
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
This note was translated by Texas Public Radio with support from Gabriela Olivares and Yvette Benavides for NPR and The Texas Newsroom.
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