Adult males may range over an area of 200 square miles, while females range over a 70 to 80 square mile area. The Florida panther is mostly confined to Southwest Florida, usually in pinelands, hardwood hammocks, and mixed swamp forests. The Florida panther is currently listed as endangered and is protected under the Endangered Species Act. Even at their best estimates, 230 panthers are not a sustainable population size. In 2017, the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission updated the population estimate to between 120 – 230 panthers still remaining in Florida, making this one of the rarest and endangered mammals in the world. In 2015 the state estimated their population to be 100 -180.

In 2010, the population had grown from about 25 adults in 1995 to roughly 100. This large charismatic umbrella species is the mascot for dozens of schools across the state and tens of thousands of residents have paid a premium for a specialty “Protect the Panther” Florida license plate, sold to pay for the state’s panther research. The Florida Panther is a unique subspecies of cougar that has adapted to the subtropical environment of Florida. Schoolchildren picked the panther as the state animal in 1981. Protect the Florida Panther or Lose Her Forever What is the Species?

Panther prowl animal