The Armentières panther is found in the Netherlands.

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Stichting-Leeuw

  • A panther was found on the roofs of Armentières in September 2019.

  • Entrusted to the Maubeuge zoo, it was stolen there a few days later.

  • The animal was eventually found in a wildlife sanctuary in the Netherlands.

Wandering panther.

Disappeared from radars a year ago after being stolen from the Maubeuge zoo, the Armentières black panther was recently located by the association Action Protection Animale (APA), we learned from its president.

The feline has come a long way since it has been in an animal sanctuary in the Netherlands for several months.

DNA analyzes must complete the elements already in the possession of investigators to confirm that the Dutch panther Akilla and the French panther Louise are in fact the same animal.

It was in the middle of last September that the APA association found traces of the Armentières panther.

"It is located in the wildlife sanctuary of the Stichting-Leew foundation," says the president of the association, Anne-Claire Chauvancy.

And it's not the next door, the foundation being based in the Dutch village of Anna Paulowna located about fifty kilometers north of Amsterdam.

Refugee in the Netherlands for almost a year

According to the APA, the animal was abandoned by a couple whose identity and nationality were not disclosed.

The unknowns, who could "no longer manage this animal which had become dangerous", according to the APA, entrusted it to the foundation in January 2020, that is to say barely three to four months after its disappearance from the Maubeuge zoo.

“The timing matches as well as the age of the feline which is over a year and a half today.

There are other details too, such as the fact that she was declawed, ”continues Anne-Claire Chauvancy.

In addition, the two strangers also recognized that their panther was "a star".

The investigations, carried out by the gendarmes of the Central Office for the fight against attacks on the environment and public health (Oclaesp) naturally turned towards this avenue.

According to the Lille prosecutor's office, "a DNA sample from the '' Dutch '' panther is still being analyzed for comparison with that of the Armentières panther".

It is not yet known whether the couple in question have been identified.

"These people know that they risk a lot, it is undoubtedly for this reason that they have not abandoned the animal in France and that they will certainly have given a false identity", deplores the president of the APA .

Far from these considerations, the feline seems to be doing wonderfully.

Now baptized Akilla, the young panther "now shares her country house with pumas Vincent and Noëlle" and plays it like "a real diva", we can read on the Internet page dedicated to her by the foundation.

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