Panther on the Prowl Has Romans on the Hunt

The Eternal City, which according to legend was founded almost 3,000 years ago by a man who had been suckled by a wolf, has entered the 1990s in pursuit of a mysterious black panther.

Eight times since Christmas, the panther has been sighted on the fringes of a city where big cats have not been seen much since the lions ate Christians in the Colosseum.

Officials wondered if the early reports might not have dealt more with “pink panthers” than black panthers--the product of holiday overindulgence. But then appeared mauled dead sheep, surrounded by large paw marks.

This week a television camera on a police helicopter captured a fleeting black feline shadow racing through a field, and now there are posses out daily.

Among them are animal protection agents with dart guns, veterinarians, tracker dogs, nervous-looking police officers clutching nets and cat-wise circus owner Nando Orfei.

“If you meet it,” Orfei advised, “don’t kill it. Stay calm; don’t panic. If we were dealing with a man-eater, we would already have paid the consequences.”

Panther reports have become a staple of the Italian news diet. Every Roman now probably knows that an adult cat can eat up to 40 pounds of meat a day. Maps chart the cat’s course from south of the city in a counterclockwise arc to the north.

Where is it going? How has it survived the winter cold? What is it hunting? Where did it come from? Who knows?

Most Romans, who know as much about panthers as their neighbors, seem to think it is a runaway pet. There are no fewer than 500 unregulated exotic pets in the city, they have been warned, and panthers are said to be the No. 4 favorite behind reptiles, monkeys and lions.

The cat continues to elude its pursuers, leaving as the posses’ only success a friendly, 130-pound black bear that was found noshing at a garbage can.

The bear went to the zoo, and Rome’s new-found animal awareness reached into the most august precincts of the city.

Pope John Paul II assured the faithful at his public audience Wednesday that animals may not have souls, but God has also breathed his breath upon them.