Florida panther births are on the rise

Thirty kittens were born in the wild in South Florida this spring and summer, the most births in a decade.

©Associated Press
September 24, 2002

FORT MYERS -- The most Florida panther births in a decade have been recorded this year, raising wildlife biologists' hopes for the endangered animal.

This spring and summer, 30 kittens were born in the wild in South Florida to 13 mother panthers. Before the births, state officials estimated the Florida panther population at 70 to 100.

"This year, it's phenomenal," said Larry Richardson, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Last year, 23 panthers were born, and in 2000, seven.

"More kittens are born than panthers dying," said Darrell Land, a wildlife biologist and head of the panther project. "There's three times the number being born than documented deaths."

About 40 percent of kittens don't live a year. Many die from disease or are killed by predators. After they leave home, many young male panthers don't survive because there's not enough territory, and bigger males will kill them for encroaching on their land.

An adult male panther needs about 200 square miles of territory. Female panthers are more easily accepted by the panther population, while males need to search far and wide for a home.

Land said his goal is simply to maintain the existing population because there isn't enough land to double the number of panthers.

A 31-member panther recovery team of experts is researching 14 potential areas to move some panthers. These areas, which stretch from Arkansas to South Carolina and south, are where panthers roamed decades ago. The recovery team hopes to have a plan in about two years.

Florida panther facts

Classification: Puma concolor coryi, one of more than 20 subspecies of cougar.

Coloring: Adults are a uniform tawny color, varying from grayish to reddish to yellowish, with lighter fur on the lower chest, belly and inner legs. Kittens start out spotted.

Unique characteristics: Smaller than the cougars in the West, with longer legs, smaller feet and a shorter, darker coat. Adult males weigh from 99 to 154 pounds; females, between 66 and 99 pounds. Its skull is distinct from other cougar subspecies, being relatively broad and flat with highly arched nasal bones.

Range: Though it once roamed throughout Florida as well as much of the southeastern United States, today it remains only in national and state parks and nearby private lands in southwest Florida.

Diet: Eats only meat, and about 90 percent of its diet consists of feral hog, white-tailed deer, raccoon and armadillo. It occasionally eats rabbits, rats, and birds, and, rarely, alligators. Although cattle are abundant on private ranches within its range, they are rarely consumed by panthers.

Vocalization: Usually quiet, but under some circumstances communicates through sounds that have been described as chirps, peeps, whistles, purrs, moans, screams, growls and hisses. When frightened, kittens emit a series of short, high-pitched peeps. Kittens and mothers keep track of each other with whistles.

-- Florida Panther Net, www.panther.state.fl.us/

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