Often called “the ghost of the forest,” black panthers are some of the slickest predators around. And while black panthers don’t hunt humans, they can attack if they feel cornered or scared, so it’s generally best to leave them alone.
But when one woman came across a black panther cub who was in desperate need of her help, all thoughts of her safety went out of the window. Besides, as she had experience in raising large animals, she was willing to take on the task.
We never thought we’d be jealous of somebody who owns a panther before – but we totally are!
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Luna the panther was born in a zoo in Siberia, but after her mother rejected her at birth, her chances of survival decreased drastically.
Luna needed someone to give her milk and round-the-clock care, and now that her mother had made it clear that she didn’t want to provide that for her cub, the responsibility fell into the hands of a human.
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Thankfully, an amazing woman was all too prepared to help Luna in whatever way she could. To provide Luna with the life that she so deserved, the woman decided to buy her from the zoo and take care of her in her own home.
It was certainly a bold move!
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The woman already owner a rottweiler named Venza, so the pair would eventually have to meet. There was no telling how Luna would react to the dog, but the woman made sure to introduce them slowly so that they had time to get used to one another.
Nobody expected such a beautiful friendship to bloom.
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Luna and Venza were soon totally inseparable, enjoying walks together, grooming each other, and play fighting. What’s more, Luna is now totally domesticated, and lives her life like a normal (albeit larger) house cat!
At 9 months old, Luna weighs a huge 20.9 kg – and she’s not done growing yet!
She shot to online fame when her owner made an Instagram account documenting her journey of growth back in September 2020, and now has fans from all over the world.
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While Luna may have some house cat traits, one thing that she can’t do is purr!
“The larynx of Panthers is not adapted to purring, but they can make the famous loud and rude roar,” the woman told Luna’s 188k Instagram followers. “Luna speaks clearly and insistently when hungry, and grumbles when puzzled or dissatisfied. Once we had a chance to hear her angry roar. We were returning from a walk and a dog ran out to meet us, Luna ROARED at him so that he forgot where he was going and who he was!”
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We don’t know about you, but after seeing these adorable pictures, we’d quite like a panther for ourselves! But since we aren’t trained to look after large cats, we’ll make do with checking out Luna’s Instagram account.
Take a look at an adorable video of Luna talking below!
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