French couple kept panther that roamed nearby rooftops
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A 2019 photo shows a black panther walking along the roof guttering of a building in Armentieres, northern France.
PHOTO: AFP
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- French couple received suspended jail sentences for illegally keeping a black panther, Louise, as a pet in their apartment.
- Louise escaped in 2019, roamed rooftops, and was recaptured. Now named Akilla, she resides in a Dutch big cat sanctuary.
- The man received a longer sentence due to prior convictions, and animal rights groups condemned the act as species trafficking and mistreatment.
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LILLE, France - A French couple kept Louise, a playful black panther, in an apartment in northern France, triggering panic when she was spotted roaming nearby rooftops.
The pair were handed suspended jail sentences on Sept 4 for illegally keeping a wild animal, despite protesting that they saw Louise as their baby.
The ruling follows a September 2019 incident when the months-old feline was seen roaming a rooftop in Armentieres after slipping out of the couple’s window.
Authorities recaptured the panther, which weighed between 25 to 30 kilos by sedating her with anaesthetic darts after she entered a home.
No injuries were reported during the animal’s time on the loose.
The court in the northern city of Lille condemned the 41-year-old man in the couple to 18 months in jail, which was suspended, and a €10,000 (S$15,000) fine.
He was also barred from keeping animals for five years.
The woman, also 41, received a four-month suspended sentence and a two-year animal possession ban.
Keeping Louise was “tantamount to species trafficking,” argued Ms Graziella Dode, a lawyer for an animal rights group that joined the case as a civil party.
Mr Xavier Bacquet, representing another foundation, called the crime mistreatment, arguing that the animal’s “physiological needs” could not be met in captivity.
The owner told French daily La Voix du Nord in 2019 that he no longer saw it as a panther.
“She was like a big, affectionate baby who just wanted to be cuddled,” he said.
He told the court that he’d bought the animal for €2,500 from a travelling community.
Prosecutors told the court he’d already been convicted in other cases for theft, violence, and drug dealing, as well for illegally keeping a pet monkey.
After its recapture, the panther was taken to the Maubeuge Zoo, from where it was briefly stolen a few days later.
The feline, renamed Akilla, now lives at the Stichting Leeuw big cat sanctuary in the Netherlands, where one of its caretakers, Ms Wendy Karsten, said it is doing well.
“It has a lot of fun, is playful and interacts well with the neighbouring panther through the fence,” Ms Karsten told AFP. AFP
