This is the incredible moment a rare black panther wandered in front of a family's house in India.

CCTV footage shows the wild cat slinking around in the residents' yard in Tamil Nadu before disappearing from view on February 16.

The clip sparked alarm among residents who raised concern that the creature might walk into their homes next.

The incident came amid heightened tensions with leopards and tigers. On January 30, a family in Bihar state were shocked when a wild leopard entered their home.

They managed to lock the deadly predator in the bedroom and called wildlife officials to tranquilise it. However, the leopard escaped through a window in the bedroom's toilet, and fled into the nearby dense forest.

Black panthers are not a distinct species, but 'melanistic' variations of big cats of the genus Panthera, which includes lions, tigers, leopards, and jaguars.

An excess of the pigment melanin turns their fur darker than normal.