It was well adapted to a wide range of environments from coniferous forests to deserts, mountains and rain forests. Today in the U. Like other wildlife, puma have four requirements: food, cover, water and space.
Food for puma includes large prey, most commonly deer, as well as smaller animals like raccoons. Cover can be anything that provides shelter from the elements for resting, for mothers to conceal their young or vegetation and objects that conceal puma while stalking prey.
Water is rarely a problem for puma, except for individuals living in the driest parts of the western U. Lastly, space is needed to ensure other survival requirements can be met, mates can be located and young adult puma can establish their territories. Florida panther range is outlined in pink and covers the southeastern United States.
Known panther occurrences shown as blue circles mainly south of Orlando, Florida and most panther breeding occurs in the orange-shaded area in south Florida around the Everglades. In the southeastern U. Today only about adult panthers exist, primarily in southwest Florida. Young males in search of their own territories have been documented in other parts of Florida but most of the breeding population remains restricted to south Florida, below the Caloosahatchee River.
Conversely, it is not uncommon to find male panthers throughout the Florida peninsula, and one male ventured into western Georgia where he was shot and killed in Figure 2: Map of known occurrence data Occurrence data orange circles show that panthers range from the extreme southern portions of the peninsula into Central Florida up to Orlando and occasionally further north. Although there are a few female panthers north of Lake Okeechobee, most females are found south of the lake and that is where most reproduction occurs.
Scientists classify the biological world into a series of categories beginning with the broadest and ending with the most specific. This classification is called taxonomy. The Florida panther Puma concolor coryi is one of more than 25 subspecies of puma Puma concolor. Historically, distinctions between subspecies were made based on physical characteristics but today there are new tools such as DNA analyses.
Combining the use of physical characteristics with DNA analyses to help define subspecies is an evolving process. It is especially difficult when dealing with a species as wide-ranging as the puma. There is inconsistency in the total number of puma subspecies. Various books and other sources identify the number of subspecies as anywhere from six to The subspecies name coryi comes from naturalist and hunter Charles Barney Cory, who first described the Florida panther as a subspecies of cougar in in his book Hunting and Fishing in Florida.
He named it Felis concolor floridana , but floridana had already been used for a subspecies of bobcat so scientists changed the name to Felis concolor coryi. Until , the cougar was classified in the genus Felis along with the domestic cat, the ocelot and 27 other species. In the cougar was reassigned to the genus Puma. A study on puma genetics published in suggested that all North American puma became extinct during the late Pleistocene era some 10, years ago.
This study further suggested that only six subspecies of puma, instead of 30, should be recognized range-wide throughout North and South America. Even if the scientific classification of the Florida panther were to change it could still be protected under the Endangered Species Act as an endangered distinct population segment.
Figure 1: Florida panther first described by Charles B. Cory in Puma adults are a uniform tan color with lighter fur on their lower chests, belly and inner legs. Shades of individual animals may vary considerably from grayish to reddish to yellowish. This uniform color conceals them effectively in a variety of settings including the open range. Florida panthers and all other puma subspecies are never black.
Young and Goldman in their book " The Puma: Mysterious American Cat" noted that the color of pumas often matches the color of the deer, their primary prey Figure 1. Puma kittens are spotted, which helps to camouflage them in the shadows of their den. These spots fade as they approach maturity at the end of their first year. Pumas have long, round tails nearly two-thirds the length of their head and body. Tails help balance the body, especially during ambush pounces on prey.
Male panthers are larger than female panthers. They are skilled at hunting white-tailed deer, feral hogs, raccoons , and other medium-sized mammals and reptiles.
Florida panthers also stalk birds. Florida panthers are territorial and solitary, unless a pair is mating or a female is raising kittens. They use pheromones and physical signs like claw markings or feces to define their territory. Males roam much larger territories than the females.
A male can make a territory more than to square miles in size. In the mating season of November to March, males venture out to find a female mate.
After they breed, the female is pregnant for about three months. She gives birth to a litter of one to three kittens. Not all kittens will survive into adulthood. At birth, the kittens are born covered in dark spots. The spots help camouflage the kittens under forest debris. The kittens are vulnerable to predators, especially right after birth when they are blind. As they develop, the spots fade away and they look more and more like adult panthers.
The kittens stay with their mother for about a year and a half before they leave to form their own territories. Florida panthers live about 12 years in the wild, but with such a small population of Florida panthers left, they are very susceptible to disease, genetic disorders, and car accidents.
The Florida panther is the only subspecies of mountain lion that remains in the eastern United States. Hunting decimated the population badly, and it was one of the first species added to the U. The Florida panther's current status is listed as endangered. Today there are only to Florida panthers left in the wild. Interstate 75 parallels the south boundary; State Road 29 parallels the east boundary.
To conserve and manage lands and waters in concert with other agency efforts within the Big Cypress Watershed, primarily for the Florida Panther, other endangered and threatened species, natural diversity, and cultural resources for the benefit of the American people.
Additional Research: In , data collected from 29 radio-collared panthers indicated that the population was losing genetic diversity at a rate of three to seven percent yearly. Researchers believed that the gene pool would continue to erode even if the population stabilized, leading to extinction within 40 years.
Three years later, with the health of the population continuing to decline, biologists made a controversial decision. In an effort to increase genetic diversity, wildlife managers introduced several female Texas cougars — the closest remaining cougar population that had historically shared Florida panther range — into the Florida panther population in Several hybrid litters have since been produced, and the introduction seems to have corrected some of the problems experts generally attribute to inbreeding.
Experts are still debating the role of the Texas cougars in panther recovery. Despite the success of this effort, panthers are still at great risk of extinction. Conserving the panther will require aggressive protections for remaining wild lands in south Florida as well as conservation efforts on private lands. Another major conservation challenge for the panther is reestablishing the species in other portions of its historic range.
Field studies have indicated an adequate prey base and appropriate habitat in some areas of northern Florida. While there is widespread popular support for panther reintroduction in Florida, some people are still concerned about introducing the cat to new areas, fearing the panther will bring with it restrictions on private property uses, potential damage to livestock and pets, and a possible threat to human safety.
As with most conservation issues, the struggle of the panther goes beyond the question of whether it is worth saving this particular species. Another female Florida panther has crossed the Caloosahatchee River, marking a huge milestone, Saving the Native Cats, FWC returns panther family back to the wild, Geneticist says Florida panther still deserves endangered species protection, Panther deaths down in ; signs point to rebound, Hello, kitty: Two young cats in new area a leap for endangered Florida panther, Evidence of female panther discovered north of Caloosahatchee, Rare river crossing raises hopes for boost in Florida panther population, No human has been attacked by a Florida panther in state history, wildlife official says, Leopard and panthers are the same and they are faster than leopards..
Panther is a generic term and does not apply to a single species. To be a bit more specific, they are …. We contribute to and support preservation efforts for the Florida Panther. It is my dream to see one in the wild. Is there a safe way to try to do this? I live in south east North Carolina and over the years I have heard many stories by people saying they saw a large long tailed cat. This never made sense to me because the only black cat is the black leapard indigenous to Asia and none have roamed here luckily.
I can t imagine why so many said the same description. I was driving a semi one night around Bartow Florida, I started over a concrete bridge small and witnessed a totally black Jaguar, or whatever you want to call them, he was walking along the the bridge in the path designed for bikes and walkers, it was around 3am, he did not flinch as I went by, and I looked in my mirror and again he did not flinch.
He was just walking along, he was way, way to big have been a cat, I was stunned. For what I could see he was all black, no other colors, and looked very healthy indeed. If we could only educate the human population to respect the panthers, and not destroy their habitat. Got one in my yard. I live in N. Seen him 3 times now. Also caught him on a security camera last night. So cool.
I am going to see what I can do to possibly relocate him. Too many houses and traffic. I have lots of rabbits in the yard. Deer are scarce. Poor fella. They have been seen in southeast Georgia. I have seen and heard many, growing up in the country. They come through one or two times a year. They are moving through right now. One was seen down the road from my house and my mom had one in her yard last night. It would be interesting if they did research here to see if their population is larger than they think.
I think I have one stalking me and my wife and step son where night the animals around the house go crazy around am. Is this possible we live right next to the Gothoe national forest. We have neighbors in Northeasternmost Florida who have video of panthers in their backyards, one just yesterday! Beautiful cats!!
I have no idea what it was but it was about the size of a medium sized dog 45 lbs or so the markings were kind of like a calico cat. Looking at pics of bob cats and Florida panther Cubs I think I saw a panther cub. Your email address will not be published.
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