Florida Panther Habitat Loss

Task force navigates florida panther protection during toll road meeting.

Florida panther habitat loss. 1 weather alerts 1 closings delays. The florida panther is the sunshine state s animal and it s also in trouble. Florida panthers were heavily hunted after 1832 when a bounty on panthers was created. Florida panthers struggling with loss of their habitat.

Florida panthers once prowled and flourished in woodlands and swamps throughout the southeast. The florida panther is the only puma also known as cougar and mountain lion population east of the mississippi. Perceived as a threat to humans livestock and game animals the species was nearly extinct by the mid 1950s. Concerns over the proposed toll road system extend beyond the loss of panther habitat.

Endangered species act 1973. According to dave onorato of the florida panther project these encounters are becoming less rare because of the big cat s loss of habitat. Today the primary threats to the remaining panther population are habitat loss fragmentation and degradation. Florida panther member of a population of large new world cats of the species puma concolor family felidae confined to a small isolated and inbred group in southern florida and protected by the u s.