Gene flow helped maintain a genetic variation and a healthy population of Florida panthers by reducing the probability of inbreeding. This exchange, known as gene flow, occurred as individuals dispersed among populations and bred. More than a century ago, natural genetic exchange occurred between the Florida panther and other contiguous populations of Puma concolor. (These population numbers do not represent a complete or true population estimate and do not included newborn kittens or older kittens that are traveling with their dams.) However, the panther continues to face numerous threats due to an increasing human population and development in panther habitat that negatively impacts recovery. The panther population size within the occupied breeding range south of Caloosahatchee River has increased from approximately 20 in the early 1970s to an upper bound of approximately 230 adult and subadult panthers in 2015. Today, the panther is presently restricted to less than five percent of its historic range in a single breeding population in southern Florida. Historic Range - Historically, this subspecies occurred throughout the southeastern United States from Arkansas and Louisiana eastward across Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida and parts of South Carolina. Panthers are opportunistic predators and unfortunately they will also prey upon unsecured livestock and pets. They primarily eat white-tailed deer and wild hogs, but smaller mammals such as raccoons, armadillos, and rabbits are also an important part of their diet. which helps to camouflage them better from potential predators.ĭiet - Florida panthers are carnivores, which means they only eat meat. In 2013, the Service formed a Florida Panther Recovery Implementation Team, consisting of members representing the Service, National Park Service, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and other stakeholders, with a mandate to prioritize and facilitate management and research activities that are crucial to the achieving the recovery goals identified in the 2008 Recovery Plan.įlorida panther kittens have blue eyes, and a spotted coat.
These recovery goals cannot be met without establishing additional populations outside of southern Florida, requiring support from private landowners. Under the current Recovery Plan, established in 2008, the Service will consider delisting the panther when three populations of at least 240 individuals each (excluding dependent-aged kittens) have been established, and sufficient habitat to support these populations is secured in the long-term. Fish and Wildlife Service has worked closely with the state of Florida, as well as other federal agencies and private partners to make significant progress towards achieving recovery. In 1967, the Department of the Interior listed the Florida panther as an endangered subspecies.
The Florida panther is a subspecies of Puma concolor (also known as mountain lion, cougar, or puma) and represents the only known breeding population of puma in the eastern United States.