A Texas man claimed he saw a black panther in his backyard. Wildlife authorities say it was a house cat

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said the black feline-like figure was likely a house cat

File photo: A black jaguar called "Boogie" walks in his cage at the zoo in Tbilisi on February 10, 2010. Black jaguars such as Boogie are found in several South American countries (AFP via Getty Images)

A Texas man started a unique debate after he snapped a picture of a black feline-like figure over the weekend.

Jerel Hall took the picture after he spotted what he described as a “panther” in the backyard of his property in Huntsville, a city about 70 miles north of Houston. Mr Hall then decided to share it with friends on Facebook, inadvertently starting a much larger discussion after the post became viral.

“Well we have officially spotted a panther on our property!,” he wrote on the 16 December post.

Despite hundreds of comments from social media users either supporting Mr Hall’s theory or asking more questions about his encounter with the animal, wildlife authorities in Texas have since debunked his claims. To the disappointment of Mr Hall and many, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department arrived at the conclusion that the creature featured in the picture was most likely a wandering black house cat.

An expert with the agency told USA Today that dark-skinned panthers do not exist.

There are black leopards and jaguars, the expert added, but they are not in Florida.

The agency said it was difficult to say because the picture had been taken from around 120-150 yards away, but that the animal’s tail suggested it was not a mountain lion. The chances that it was a jaguar are also extremely low, as the last time a jaguar was spotted in Texas was 75 years ago.

“However, there can be melanistic jaguars (Panthera onca) and melanistic leopards (Panthera pardus), but of course, neither of those are in Texas,” TPWD said in a statement to USA Today. “To note though there can also be melanistic bobcats. Jaguarundis, like jaguars, have not been confirmed in Texas for many decades.”

“...Size can be tough to tell in photos and unless you have a good reference, ‘apparent size’ is often misleading,” TPWD added.

The agency’s explanation did not seem to convince Mr Hall, who doubled down on his claims in a second Facebook post.

However, experts maintain that black panther sightings, just like the Marvel superhero, are fictional.