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Scientific Name: Puma concolor coryi

- a subspecies of the cougar/mountain lion in North America
- they are a medium-size, as adults the females fall between 60 - 100 pounds and males between 90 and 160 pounds, their length grows between 5 and 8 feet and the males tend to be larger and have a faster growing weight in the species
- In 1982, the Florida panther was chosen as the Florida state animal.
- the only large cat living in the wild in the Eastern U.S.

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- coloring is grey, brown, and white
- when born and as a cub, they are spotted and usually have blue eyes, as they grow the spots will gradually fade and turn an overall tan color with mixed hues and pale underbelly, the eyes will also turn to a more yellow color
- an identifying trait is black tips on the tail and the pointed ears
- another identifying characteristics is their vocalization, they make unique sounds that includes chirps, growls, hisses, whistles, and purrs
- has a whorl of hair on its back and a crook in its tail
- life span tends to be 12-15 years, due to threats they have a high mortality and do not always survive this long

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As we'll read later on in this presentation, the Florida Panther is endangered, its numbers are very small, and its habitat has been heavily impacted.

- it only occupies an estimated 5% of its historic range (as noted in the graphic below)
- lives in wetlands and drylands and prefers lots of cover, its environment looks like: forests, mountains, scrub lands, open woods, plains, pinelands, cypress forests, freshwater marshes, swamps, tropical hardwood hammocks, saw palmetto woodlands.
- With a reduced range, the Florida Panther can now be found in multiple refuges like the Big Cypress National Preserve, the Everglades National Park, the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, and the Picayune Strand State Forest, along with the counties encompassed in the red below in Florida.

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- dens are created by female panthers in highly covered, often dense spaces, this is where the kittens are born
- the mating season is November to March and pregnancy lasts about three months with a litter of one to three kittens, there is a mortality rate in kittens and usually not all survive into adulthood because of threats to the species
- after birth, kittens spend one to two months in the den and are heavily dependent on the mother, they are weaned off and learn from the mother how to hunt and learn survival instincts
- by the age of two years old the panther then survives on its own
- female and male panthers often avoid each other unless breeding
- panthers are wide-range animals, they are territorial and solitary and they require space so they occur at low-densities and they are not often in large groups

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- a carnivorous species that depends on hunting prey
- consume a variety of small to medium animals: mice, rabbits, storks, waterfowl, white-tailed deer, raccoon, armadillo, feral pigs, and even alligators
- they are opportunists, they have fed on domesticated animals before like pets and livestock

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Florida Panther and American Alligator Interaction

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Florida Panther and American Alligator Interaction

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Youtube Video - may have to copy link and enter into browser

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IUCN Red List: Endangered, extremely threatened species

The State of Florida originally declared the Florida Panther a game species in 1950 and then was declared an endangered species in 1958.
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service listed the panther as endangered in 1967.

The Florida Panther is one of the most endangered and threatened species in the wild with dwindling numbers. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission tries to keep accurate records to the best of their ability, it is not always easy to spot or find this species so the numbers may not be totally accurate. In 2015 there was an estimated population of 100-180 and in 2017 this number was at 120-230, there was an increase due to conservation initiatives and public attention to the endangered species.

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A slide from a conservation presentation

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A slide from a conservation presentation

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The Florida Panther is critically endangered that its population is impacted by almost every threat.

Major threats include:
- habitat loss and fragmentation due to construction, roads, and urbanization
- roadway mortality due to car accidents causes deaths and limits range expansion
- lack of landowner acceptance can threaten recovery as the species may attack domesticated animals or expand onto occupied land since there's is taken
- hunting originally drastically decreased the population

Other Threats:
- disease
- genetic disorder
- low genetic diversity
These are all caused by having such a small population that is more susceptible to these threats, since the Florida Panther is so critically endangered it is hard to prevent these things. Examples include mercury pollution in their food and water supply that continues on in generations, and feline leukemia.

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There are multiple management strategies that include:

- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has a Florida Panther Recovery Plan.
"The goal of the plan is to achieve long-term viability of the Florida panther to a point where it can be reclassified from endangered to threatened, and then removed from the Federal List of endangered and threatened species."

- Curating public opinion and advocating for laws protecting Florida's vast interior rural landscape from development, creating wildlife corridors to connect conservation areas, and diverting panthers away from roads and heavily constructed areas, this is all to guarantee a safe way for the panther to travel and live.

- There are various organizations that have projects dedicated to protecting the Florida Panther and raise money through their supporters. An example is the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission that conducts Florida Panther research and management through the Florida Panther Research and Management Trust Fund that receives money from the purchase and annual renewal of the Protect the Panther specialty license plate.

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Florida Panthers are important to the area they occupy and are viable in the food web as a top predator species. They are umbrella species because by protecting them and their territory it encourages conservation efforts and allows for vast territories for species to survive - picture a lion on an African plain for example and now imagine the Florida Panther being trapped into a small territory when they require 250-500 square miles. This protects other species and wildlife by protecting the panther, and they are at the top in the food web so they help keep other medium to large sized species in check - this results in a natural balance in the environment.

Most human beings have a fearful perception of Florida Panthers because they are such a powerful animal. They are deadly and should not be approached by people, they should be able to exist in their environments without being disturbed. In the 1900's they were heavily hunted because of this fear and because as humans expanded they limited the panther's territory requiring them to move and find new homes, sometimes on occupied land, and find new food sources, sometimes livestock. Hunting is now banned on the species and comes with a heavy fine and jail time.

Now that the Florida Panther is critically endangered, there is a heavy wave of public support to conserve the species and protect them. Many organizations exist to raise money for these efforts, protect their land and their populations, and to lobby the government for more attention.

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The biggest controversy, besides the overall endagered status of the Florida Panther, is the mortality rate due to car accidents.
Florida Panthers are forced to cross roads and highways that are built in the middle of their habitats.
There are multiple cases of car collisions causing Florida Panther deaths in the state.

This article provides great information on this controversy:
https://www.jacksonville.com/news/metro/2015-10-21/story/florida-panthers-iconic-endangered-species-caught-crosshairs-controversy?mmo_ccc=xfinity

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- the Florida Panther is the most endangered mammal in the Eastern United States (not so fun)
- this is one of the only "big cats" that cannot roar
- it is the official state animal of Florida
- they can leap more than 15 feet

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Watch this!

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Provides conservation updates, sightings, numbers, and a daily blog!

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Florida Panther Protection Program...
...has been proposed by a broad coalition of leading conservation organizations and small and large farmers and ranchers in Eastern Collier County who are committed to setting the endangered Florida panther on a path to recovery. This collaborative approach suggests the protection of a significant, contiguous range of panther habitat - potentially as much as 2,500,000 acres in public and private lands. In addition, it calls for the establishment of the Paul J. Marinelli Panther Protection Fund, a source of private funds from well planned, sustainable real estate development in Eastern Collier County that could make significant funding available for conservation efforts over decades to come.

To read more about the FPPP, please click Here "

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Florida Panther Protection Program... ...has been proposed by a broad coalition of leading conservation organizations and small and large farmers and ranchers in Eastern Collier County who are committed to setting the endangered Florida panther on a path to recovery.

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Included below are some articles I utilized to complete this presentation and some that provide interesting reading material on this amazing large mammal!

- Frakes RA, Belden RC, Wood BE, James FE. Landscape Analysis of Adult Florida Panther Habitat. PLoS One. 2015;10(7):e0133044. Published 2015 Jul 29. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0133044

- Kreye MM, Pienaar EF. A critical review of efforts to protect Florida panther habitat on private lands, Land Use Policy, Volume 48, 2015, Pages 428-436, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2015.06.018.

- van de Kerk, M., Onorato, D.P., Hostetler, J.A., Bolker, B.M. and Oli, M.K. (2019), Dynamics, Persistence, and Genetic Management of the Endangered Florida Panther Population. Wild. Mon., 203: 3-35. doi:10.1002/wmon.1041

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Background - https://dribbble.com/shots/6420270-Florida-Panther
- https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/466826317621071961/
- https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/local/cape-coral/2017/04/29/young-artists-draw-florida-panther-cape-coral-contest/100934852/
- http://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/wecdept/2016/05/11/intervene-not-intervene-individual-based-approach-dynamics-persistence-florida-panther-population/
- https://www.nature.org/en-us/magazine/magazine-articles/florida-panther-corridor/
- http://www.floridapanther.com/articles/FLORIDA%20PANTHER.htm