Defenders' Experts
Florida Panther Background and Recovery
Fewer than 100 Florida panthers are left in the United State today. Once ranging across eight southeastern states, they are now isolated in south Florida.
Unchecked development has pushed panthers into a tiny fraction of their historic range and increases the possibility of human-panther interactions, which are usually fatal to panthers. It has also fragmented the remaining habitat so that panthers are forced to cross dangerous highways to find food and shelter.
Defenders of Wildlife is working to save them by protecting the large tracks of habitat necessary to their survival in Florida. Defenders is also working with public partners, private partners and wildlife agencies to re-establish panthers in their historic range.
See a timeline of panthers and recovery efforts
Description
Florida panthers are tawny brown on the back and pale gray underneath. The Florida panther is one of 30 Puma concolor subspecies known by many names – puma, cougar, mountain lion, painter, catamount and panther. They are tawny brown on the back and pale gray underneath. Males measure 7 feet from nose to tip of tail and weigh up to 130lbs.
Habitat and Range
Panthers use a wide variety of habitats to find the food, water, and shelter they need to survive and raise young. For denning and daybedding, panthers need habitat with adequate ground cover vegetation, which keeps kittens safely hidden in the den and provides a cool shady place to rest during the day.
Male panthers use large well-defined home ranges that often include the overlapping home ranges of several females. A male panther will attempt to kill males who enter his range. The large area must provide for his needs as well as those of his potential mates and the cubs they produce. An adult panther may cover hundreds of miles as it moves between areas within its territory.
When young panthers are ready to leave their mother they will travel in search of new territory. Females disperse as few as 8 miles away and often set up a home range that overlaps with part of their mothers. Male panthers travel much farther and must compete with older, established males for territory.
Young males, or transients, have been known to travel as far as north-central Florida, which may account for some of the panther sightings across the state.
Behavior
Panthers are mostly active between dusk and dawn when they hunt and travel through their territory. During the heat of the day panthers are usually resting (or daybedding) in the cool shade of ground vegetation such as saw palmetto and cabbage palm thickets.
Panthers are solitary. A male pairs up with a female only briefly during breeding. Kittens stay with their mother as long as 2 years before they disperse to set up a home range of their own.
Panthers are territorial. Occupied habitat is identifiable by panther markings such as tracks, tree and earth scrapes, scat, and kills. Panther tracks are asymmetrical with a 3 lobbed pad surrounded by 4 teardrop shaped toes and no claw marks. Kills are covered with leaves and vegetation after the panther has eaten. Panthers may return to feed on the remains over several days.
Panthers prefer a secluded environment away from people. Sometimes their roaming behavior brings them in contact with people. If you see a panther, stay calm. No Florida panther has ever attacked a human. More than likely, it will run away.
Learn More About Living with Panthers
Role of Conservation Organizations in Panther Recovery
Conservation organizations including Defenders of Wildlife are helping with panther recovery in many ways:
- protecting habitat from development, and preserving habitat as conservation lands
- advocating for wildlife considerations in transportation planning and installation of wildlife underpasses
- reducing panther mortality on roads urging agencies to use sound science in development planning and panther management
- restoring panthers to their historic range of the southeastern United States
- promoting education and raising awareness of panthers and their recovery needs
Other conservation organizations working on panther recovery include: The National Wildlife Federation, The Florida Wildlife Federation, The Friends of the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, and The Florida Panther Society, Inc.
Reintroduction
With fewer than 100 panthers remaining in the southeastern United States, it may be tempting to do no more than attempt to hang on to what is left. However research has shown that re-establishing additional populations of panthers reduces the threat of extinction by:
Expanding capacity for genetic diversity within the subspecies, as well as the overall Puma concolor speciesReducing vulnerability to unpredictable events such as disease outbreak, environmental toxins, and weather catastrophes
Increasing the panther population’s ability to persist in the long-term
The US Fish and Wildlife Service's Florida Panther Recovery Plan includes establishing two additional panther populations, which is based on scientific research that shows that 3 populations are essential to recovery of this endangered wild cat.
Learn More About the Reintroduction of Florida Panthers
Threats
Even though the persecution and hunting that brought them near to extinction ended in the mid-1950s, panthers have continued to face many threats. Today, the largest threats are vehicle collision and habitat loss to development.
Roads are becoming more deadly to panthers each year. And misguided development continues to destroy and fragment panther habitat.
Panthers also face an uncertain threat from public perception. Full recovery of this endangered big cat may depend on the public's ability to learn to live with panthers again.
Successes
Florida panthers have had some things go their way. In 2004, the Federal Court ruled in favor of the National Wildlife Federation, Florida Wildlife Federation, and The Florida Panther Society, and revoked a Florida Rock Industry mine permit that would have destroyed over 5000 acres of panther habitat.
The permit was issued based on a "no jeopardy" opinion reached by the USFWS. The Judge found that the permit did not consider the project's cumulative impact on the overall loss of panther habitat.
Status of the Florida Panther
The Florida panther was federally listed as an endangered species in 1967. Panthers are protected under other legal measures including:
- International: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendix 1.
- Florida: Florida Endangered and Threatened Species Act; and Florida Administrative Code.
- Georgia: Protection of Endangered, Threatened, Rare of Unusual Species; and Georgia Code.
The Endangered Species Act is a safety net for wildlife, plants, and fish that are on the brink of extinction. It includes one of the most effective ways to protect species, which is to protect the places where they live.
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