Georgia Wildlife Resources Division biologist Charlie Killmaster stands by a panther taken by a hunter in Troup County, Georgia. Photo Augusta Chronicle.

Cryptomundo has earlier details about this event here.

Cryptomundo reader Kittenz adds:

It seems the authorities aren’t so certain the cat was an escaped pet. Some clues indicate that it may have been, but they are advising anyone who may see another puma not to shoot it if they don’t have to, but to document it instead.

Pumas are endemic to (though presumed extirpated from) the Okefenokee Swamp in in southern Georgia. At one time it was thought that the Okefenokee Swamp was one of the last strongholds of the Florida panther.