after changing ldap.ora to

DIRECTORY_SERVERS=(panther.am.kwe.com:389:636)
DEFAULT_ADMIN_CONTEXT="dc=panther,dc=com"
DIRECTORY_SERVER_TYPE=oid

C:\Documents and Settings\sali>tnsping dbtest1

TNS Ping Utility for 32-bit Windows: Version 9.2.0.1.0 - Production on 20-NOV-20
07 11:46:35

Copyright (c) 1997 Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved.

Used parameter files:
c:\oracle\ora92\network\admin\sqlnet.ora

Used LDAP adapter to resolve the alias
Attempting to contact (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS_LIST=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=pa
nther)(PORT=1533)))(CONNECT_DATA=(SID=dbtest1)))
TNS-12545: Connect failed because target host or object does not exist

is this because the /etc/hosts file doesn't have fully qualified domain name?

127.0.0.1 localhost loopback
#10.0.4.24 panther panther.am.kwe.com panther.kwe.com
10.0.4.24 panther