The supposed sighting of a black panther in a park in Berja, southern Spain, has rattled the nearly 15,000 people who call the area home and fuelled speculation about the existence of the big cat.
Officials have closed the park, put out baited traps and installed cameras to catch the animal, while six officers have been assigned to conduct an active search.
The cat was first spotted two weeks ago by a Berja resident but the sighting was not reported to police until a week later.
Two more people reported seeing it in the park and all of them agreed they had seen the same thing.
The cat may have escaped from a circus or a private property where it was being kept illegally, experts said on Tuesday.
