Stir-crazy residents in northern Merida claimed to have photographic evidence of a dangerous black panther roaming the neighborhood.
The photo was actually of a black kitten stalking a bird in a garden.
While quarantine conditions have invited wildlife back into residential neighborhoods, this was not an example of such a phenomenon.
Neighbors insisted a 1.5-meter-long panther, 50 cm high, was loose in the Cabo Norte housing complex. Although security guards tried to reassure them, residents called authorities to capture the wild animal, according to La Verdad Noticias.
Police searched nearby Tixcuytún, Temozón and Chablekal areas but found no such feline.
Authorities told La Verdad that residents have made similar reports before, apparently restless after being locked up in quarantine.
On the other hand, on social media, photographer Mike Diaz shared evidence that wildlife is on the loose. A gray fox and her kit were seen strolling along a Telchac road.
