The Florida Panther: Prowling its Way Right off our Planet

The Florida Panther: Prowling its way right off our planet

By Hannah Avdalovic

Description and ecology:

The Florida panther is the last species of puma still surviving, they are wide ranging, secretive, and occur at low densities. Their mating habits involve polygamous males that maintain large, overlapping home ranges with adult females. Female panthers can breed as young as 18 months.Panthers are strictly carnivores and their diet consists of only meat. Around 90 percent of their diet is feral hog, white-tailed deer, raccoon, and armadillo. Dense vegetation provides some of the most important feeding, resting, and denning cover for panthers. They depend upon habitat of sufficient quantity, quality, and spatial configuration for long-term persistence. Fruitful reproduction has occurred up to 11 years old.

Geographic and Population changes:

The only known, reproducing panther population is located in the Big Cypress Swamp/Everglades region of South Florida. Adult Florida panthers space themselves throughout available habitat in southwest Florida in a pattern similar to that of western cougars. There is believed to be 100-160 adult and sub-adult panthers in South Florida. It is estimated that there are fewer than 100 Florida panthers and there is less then five percent of what their population was originally.

Cause of listing/ Main threats to continued existence:

Florida panthers used to be highly abundant throughout the Southeast until European settlers arrived in the 1600s and the clear-cutting, building and other human activities that destroy, degrade and fragment habitat started. Today, the panther is recognized as Florida’s official state animal but unfortunately it is one the most endangered mammals on Earth. Limiting factors for the Florida panther are habitat availability, prey availability, and lack of human tolerance. Based on the current trends of urbanization across the Southeast such as, residential development, conversion to agriculture, mining and mineral exploration, lack of land use planning, it is seems as if the amount of available forest habitat will decrease.

Estimated Cost of Recovery for Five Years by Recovery Action Priority (Dollars x 1,000):

Y ear	Priority 1 Action	Priority 2 Actions	Priority 3 Actions	Total
1	875	1,981	1,713.5	4,569.5
2	875	1,696	1,506.5	4,077.5
3	835	1,561	1,231.5	3,627.5
4	835	921	981.5	2,737.5
5	835	921	981.5	2,737.5
Total	4,255	7,080	6,414.5

(From the 2008 Recovery Plan)

Check out the Panther Project's video on how they collar a Florida Panther. 

Date of listing:

These creatures were listed as endangered throughout its range in 1967 and received Federal protection under the passage of the Endangered Species Act of 1973.

Description of Recovery Plan:

The main goals of the plan are to maintain, restore, and expand the panther population and its habitat in south Florida and expand the breeding portion of the population in south Florida to areas north of the Caloosahatchee River, as well as to identify, secure, maintain, and restore panther habitat in potential reintroduction areas within the historic range, and to establish viable populations of the panther outside south and south-central Florida. The final objective is to facilitate panther recovery through public awareness and education. Delisting will be considered when Three viable, self-sustaining populations of at least 240 individuals each have been established for at least twelve years. Sufficient habitat quality, quantity, and spatial configuration to support these populations is retained and protected for the long-term.

What We Can Do:

Write to political figures and agency administrators to express your concern for the florida panther. The address to send letters to is:

   US Fish and Wildlife Service, Southeast Regional Office

     Sam Hamilton, Regional Director

     1875 Century Blvd., Atlanta, GA 30345

     Ph# (404) 679-4000, Fax# (404) 679-4006

Another extremely helpful attribution we can make to the saving of the Florida Panther is simply supporting land conservation. Such a large part of the endangered-ness of the panther is that they are losing their habitats to urbanization. By supporting land conservation we are ultimately supporting the Florida panther.

For more information on how you can help check out The Florida Panther Society.

 Citations: 

http://www.floridapanthernet.org
 http://www.defenders.org/florida-panther/basic-facts
http://www.nwf.org/wildlife/wildlife-library/mammals/florida-panther.aspx
http://www.algebralab.org/passage/passage.aspx?file=EnvironmentalScience_FloridaPanther.xml
http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/081218.pdf