[
Despite these findings, it was still referred to as a distinct subspecies P. c. coryi in 2006.]
In 2017, the Cat Classification Taskforce of the Cat Specialist Group revised the taxonomy of Felidae, and now recognises all cougar populations in North America as P. c. couguar.
Distribution and habitat
The Florida panther lives in pinelands, tropical hardwood hammocks and mixed freshwater swamp forests. Its range includes the Big Cypress National Preserve, Everglades National Park, Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, Picayune Strand State Forest, as well as rural communities in the counties of Collier, Hendry, Lee, Miami-Dade, and Monroe County. It is the only confirmed cougar population in the Eastern United States, and currently occupies 5% of its historic range.[ FWC Florida Panther . myfwc.com June 24, 2017]
Behavior and ecology
Diet
The Florida panther is a large carnivore whose diet consists both of small animals, such as raccoons, armadillos, nutrias, hares, mice, and waterfowl, and larger prey such as storks, white-tailed deer, feral pigs, and small American alligators. The Florida panther is an opportunistic hunter, and has been known to prey on livestock and domesticated animals, including cattle, goats, horses, pigs, sheep, chickens, dogs, and cats.[[4] . Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Last Retrieved 2017-07-14] When hunting, panthers shift their hunting environment based on where the prey base is. Female panthers frequently shift both their home range and movement behavior due to their reproductive rates.
According to a 2022 study from the University of Georgia, Florida panthers are now the main cause of death for white-tailed deer in Southwest Florida.
Early life
Panther kittens are born in dens created by their mothers, often in dense scrub. The dens are chosen based on a variety of factors, including prey availability, and have been observed in a range of habitats. Kittens will spend the first 6–8 weeks of life in those dens, dependent on their mother.
Lifespan
Florida panthers can typically live up to 20 years but some individuals might live longer. Male panthers often have a shorter lifespan due to fights with other panthers over territory and females, and they travel more widely exposing them to accidents such as with vehicles and encounters with people.
Threats
The biggest threat to the species is habitat loss.
Vehicular collisions
Vehicle collisions are the leading cause of individual panther mortality.
Habitat
Primary threats to the population as a whole include habitat loss, habitat degradation, and habitat fragmentation. Southern Florida is a fast-developing area, and many developments such as Ave Maria near Naples, have become extremely controversial for their location in prime panther habitat, and for the roads surrounding them that kill panthers at an ever increasing rate.
Fragmentation by major roads has severely segmented the sexes of the Florida panther, as well. In a study done between 1981 and 2004, most panthers involved in car collisions were found to be male. However, females are much more reluctant to cross roads. Therefore, roads separate habitat, and adult panthers.
Development, as well as the Caloosahatchee River, are major barriers to natural population expansion.
Panthers vs. panthers
Territorial aggression between Florida panthers is the second leading cause of individual panther mortality.
Panthers vs. humans
Humans threaten the Florida panther directly through poaching and wildlife control measures.
Florida panthers, usually wandering males, have occurred as vagrants outside of Florida, where they face a much higher risk of mortality. In 2008, a Georgia man was sentenced to two years probation, fined, and handed a hunting ban during his probation for killing a Florida panther that had walked north to Troup County, Georgia.
Panthers vs. snakes
Florida's invasive snakes like might eat Florida panthers.
Disease
Antigen analysis on select Florida panther populations has shown evidence of feline immunodeficiency virus and puma lentivirus among certain individuals. The presence of these viruses is likely related to mating behaviors and territory sympatry. Although, since Florida panthers have lower levels of the antibodies produced in response to FIV, consistently positive results for the presence of infection is difficult to find.
In the 2002–2003 capture season, feline leukemia virus was first observed in two panthers. Further analysis determined an increase in FeLV-positive panthers from January 1990 to April 2007. The virus is lethal, and its presence has resulted in efforts to inoculate the population. While no new cases have been reported since July 2004, the virus does have potential for reintroduction.
In August 2019, Florida's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission identified, through the use of game cameras, eight endangered panthers affected by an apparent neurological disorder, but were unable to identify any potential infectious diseases that can affect felines and other species.
Chemicals
Exposure to a variety of chemical compounds in the environment has caused reproductive impairment to Florida panthers. Tests show that the differences between males and females in estradiol levels are insignificant, which suggests that males have been feminized due to chemical exposure. Feminized males are much less likely to reproduce, which represents a significant threat to a subspecies that already has a low population count and a high level of inbreeding. Chemical compounds that have created abnormalities in Florida panther reproduction include herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides such as benomyl, carbendazim, chlordecone, methoxychlor, methylmercury, fenarimol, and TCDD.
Genetic depletion
Prior to the mid-1990s, the biggest threat to the survival of the species was inbreeding. The Florida panther has low genetic diversity due to a variety of environmental and genetic issues. This resulted in a gradual decline in the population size with subsequent increase in the likelihood of inbreeding depression.
Due to conservation efforts (see "Genetic diversity" below) this is no longer as big a threat.
Corruption and politics
Financial corruption and political changes pose a significant risk to panthers. According to a 2021 investigative report, "money and politics could doom the Florida panther".
David Maehr bribery controversy
In 2003, a corruption controversy emerged involving David Maehr, a leading Florida panther expert. Land developers Maehr to produce scientifically unsound papers that deliberately downplayed the importance of certain lands for panther survival. These flawed studies were then submitted to permitting agencies to justify development and forest-clearing projects. Ultimately, this allowed for the destruction of land that was, in fact, vital habitat for the Florida panther.
After a whistleblower exposed Maehr's work, federal and state agencies appointed a panel of four experts called the Florida Panther Scientific Review Team (SRT). Tasked with evaluating the science used to guide panther recovery, the SRT identified serious problems with Maehr's literature, including poor citations and misrepresented data used to support unsound conclusions.[Beier, P; Vaughan, MR; Conroy, MJ and Quigley, H. 2003, An analysis of scientific literature related to the Florida panther: Submitted as final report for Project NG01-105 , Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Tallahassee, FL.][ Information Quality Guidelines: Your Questions and Our Responses. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Published 2005-03-21. Retrieved 2007-01-30.] As a result of the DQA ruling, the USFWS admitted to errors in the science it was using and reinstated Eller, who had been fired after filing the complaint. In two subsequent white papers, environmental groups contended that this reliance on incorrect data had led to improper permitting for habitat development and documented the link between the flawed science and financial conflicts of interest.[Kostyack, J and Hill, K. (2005) Giving Away the Store. The Florida Panther Society][Kostyack, J and Hill, K. (2004) Discrediting a Decade of Panther Science: Implications of the Scientific Review Team Report. The Florida Panther Society]
David Maehr was covertly paid by developers, and his faulty science research gave developers the necessary permitting to clear forests needed by the panthers to retain a viable breeding population.[ Fish and Wildlife Service releases Draft Florida Panther Recovery Plan for public review . U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Published 2006-01-31. Retrieved 2007-01-30.] The discredited Maehr left Florida and the field of panthers to study black bears in Kentucky; while on sabbatical in 2008, he died in a single-engine prop plane accident while doing a bear survey.
Conservation
Conservation programs
There are a number of official conservation plans and programs.
The Florida Panther Recovery Plan is the foundational federal-level document for panther conservation, mandated by the Endangered Species Act. First written in 1981 and last fully revised in 2008, it outlines the overarching strategy for the panther's survival and eventual removal from the endangered species list. It is managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
The Florida Panther Program is run by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). It was originally called the Florida Panther Management Plan. It is the primary state-level conservation program. It consists of multiple plans including the Imperiled Species Management Plan,
Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs) are legally binding agreements between the USFWS and private entities (like landowners or developers) in South Florida. They are designed to allow for some development while ensuring that the impact on panther habitat is minimized and mitigated, often by preserving and managing other crucial lands.
Florida Panther Conservation Banks are a market-based tool where landowners are given financial incentives to protect and manage panther habitat on their property. They earn "credits" which can be sold to developers to offset habitat loss elsewhere. This helps to secure and maintain corridors and larger landscapes for panthers on private lands.
Habitat conservation
The conservation of Florida panther habitats is especially important because they rely on the protection of the forest, specifically hardwood hammock, cypress swamp, pineland, and hardwood swamp, for their survival.
Genetic diversity
To increase genetic diversity of the Florida panther, eight pumas from Texas were introduced in the mid-1990s. This genetic rescue worked. It aided in reducing the inbreeding coefficient in the Florida panther population by creating more genetic variation. The results indicated that the survival rates of hybrid kittens were three times higher than those of purebred pumas.
Traffic safety
Efforts to reduce vehicle collisions with the Florida panther include nighttime speed reduction zones, special roadsides, headlight reflectors, and . Another method of reducing collisions is the creation of wildlife corridors. Because wildlife corridors emulate the natural environment, animals are more likely to cross through a corridor rather than a road because a corridor provides more cover for prey and predators, and is safer to cross than a road.
Rehabilitation
When incidents injure the panthers, federal and Florida wildlife officials take them to White Oak Conservation in Yulee, Florida, for recovery and rehabilitation until they are well enough to be reintroduced.
Endangered status
The Florida panther was formerly considered endangered[ and continues to be protected as an endangered animal under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.][
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Human safety
If encountered, the advice is not to run since this may stimulate the panther's instinct to chase. Instead, stand and face the animal and make eye contact. Most Florida panthers will avoid a confrontation. In the event of being attacked, an individual should fight back, without turning their back. Further, there has never been a reported panther attack in Florida. However, in western states, people have been attacked and fought back successfully with rocks, sticks, or even their bare hands.
In culture
In 1982, the Florida panther was chosen as the Florida state animal.
In 2023 the Florida panther was featured on a United States Postal Service forever stamp as part of the Endangered Species set, based on a photograph from Joel Sartore's Photo Ark. The stamp was dedicated at a ceremony at the National Grasslands Visitor Center in Wall, South Dakota.
The Florida panther was also prominently featured in the 2022 documentary Path of the Panther, which highlights conservation efforts to protect the species and share the importance of preserving wildlife corridors in Florida. The film played a role in raising public awareness and influencing the passage of the Florida Wildlife Corridor Act.
External links
