Can a panther and a cheetah mate and produce an offspring?
A. Yes, they can. By “panther” (and here I trust you’ll excuse the temporary descent into pedantry!) I’m assuming you mean a leopard – specifically, a black leopard (which is what a black panther really is). In the wild state, cheetahs and leopards avoid each other like – well, cats and dogs. The cheetah in particular is forever wary of the larger, stronger leopard, because he knows that a fight between the two would be like pitting a welter-weight boxer against Evander Holyfield. Thus the two steer clear despite that their territories actually overlap, and any chance of one mating with the other is virtually nil. But in the captive state it would be possible for enterprising staff to introduce a cheetah and a black leopard (“panther”) and, with luck, they’ll like each other enough to court, mate, and produce offspring. In a previous Q&A, which is yet to be presented on the Furry Lair site, I replied to a similar question about lions and tigers mating together: the mother conceives and
