The panther is Florida's most endangered species. The panther was once the most widely distributed mammal in North and South America, but it is now virtually gone from the eastern United States. Habitat fragmentation by development has divided the panther into many subspecies, and the Florida panther is the subspecies that once roamed throughout the southeastern United States. Threatened with imminent extinction, many of the Florida panthers are confined to the swampy southwestern corner of the state. The tiny Florida population is vulnerable to population fluctuations or catastrophic events. One bad year could wipe out our remaining living Florida panthers. Creating another breeding population could reduce the spectre of pending extinction. In the mid '90s the US Fish and Wildlife Service released 19 Texas cougars into the wilds of North Florida. Biologists sought to increase genetic diversity and revitalize the local panther breeding population by introducing the Texas cougars to their extremely rare Florida cousins.
At the culmination of the 2 1/2 year study the Texas cougars were recovered and returned home. The successful experiment determined that there is enough wilderness and prey to support a self-sustaining population in North Florida of about 50 Florida panthers. The panther is a uniform creme or tawny cinnamon color on the back, with a white belly. The tip of the tail, back of the ears, and sides of the nose are dark brown or black. The male adult panther will weigh from 100 to 150 pounds, while the smaller female will generally weigh from 65-100 pounds. Adults are usually between 6 and 7 feet in length, from nose to tip of the tail, and about 2 to 21?2 feet in height. Panthers are essentially solitary and nocturnal. The range of a male overlaps those of several females. A typical panther den site is located in a saw palmetto thicket taller than six feet. These palmettos create a canopy that shelter kittens from the rain and the sun. Panther sightings in South Walton seem to occur most frequently during foggy winter dawns. Is the Florida panther in South Walton, or do we only see ghosts of a bygone romantic legend?
``Big Guy" White Oak Plantation, Jacksonville Courtesy US Fish & Wildlife Service
