Our Name & Mascot

Long before Fort Worth was nicknamed “Cowtown”, due to its role in the cattle industry as major Stockyard on the Chisholm Trail, Fort Worth was known as “Panther City” due to a high population of large cats in the area.  Locally called the Fort Worth Panther, these large cats are also known as a Cougars or Texas Cougars, Mountain Lions, and Catamonts.  These regional names all refer to the cat species Puma concolor (Puma).  The cat is comparable in size to the Leopard, and is one the largest cats in the world.  Despite its size though, it is not typically classified among the "big cats" as it cannot roar, lacking the specialized larynx and hyoid apparatus of the Panthera species (the big cats: lions, tigers, leopards and jaguars).  The Fort Worth Panther, as all Pumas of the Americas, are typically tawny (yellowish-tan) with black and white markings.  And, despite anecdotes to the contrary, an all-black coloring (melanism) has never been documented in Pumas.  These cats are powerful; able to jump in excess of 40 feet. And, they are capable of bring down large prey like deer, cattle, and horses.  Though this large cat was common to the area during the settlement and early development of Fort Worth, it is no longer present in the region due to excessive hunting and loss of habitation.

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