The purebred male cat, born in 1995 at Big Cypress National Preserve, was captured and collared in 1996 and has been tracked ever since providing data to determine the cat's roaming range. He has visited at least 4 other parks and reserves in his 8-year life.
The cat has been preying on wildlife at a campground for about a week. The campground is privately owned and the owner's alerted the Florida Wildlife Conservation that the cat was attacking goats, ducks and chickens and there was a concern the cat would attack a human although there are no reported instances of any Florida panther attacks.
A trap was baited with deer meat and the cat couldn't resist. He was first removed to the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge for observation and later to White Oak for additional treatment.
Although the panther was approximately 40-pounds underweight and sick, and panthers have not been known to attack humans, there is always a first time. Because there were readily available sources of food for the cat to prey upon, the camper's were in a less dangerous situation. If the situation had been reversed and food sources were scarce, the likelihood of a human attack would have increased.
As with any environment that is inhabited by local wildlife, whenever humans move in or invade the territory, encounters with native wildlife are sure to happen. The population of the endangered cat is up to around 80-100 cats. This is a significant increase from the very low numbers reported in previous years. Endeavors by wildlife organizations, biologists and the FWC are encouraged by the increase of panthers in the wild but it is an ongoing project that will take time and resources to ensure results.
The Florida Panther is an endangered species and as their population increases ( a good thing), a task force has been implemented to determine how best to handle future situations where panthers and humans come into close contact so that neither species is hurt.
This is a story with a happy ending as the 8-year old is being treated for a skin condition and will be fed to get him to his correct weight and then relocated to another area.
For more information about the Florida Panther and how you can be involved in their future, please visit The Florida Panther Society, Inc., and Florida Panther Net.
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