Big Cypress

National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

Big Cypress 

National Preserve

Florida Panther

The Florida panther (Felis concolor coryi) is the state animal of Florida, being voted as such by the school children of the state 

in 1987. The panther was chosen over other animals such as the alligator, manatee, white-tailed deer, and the black bear as the 

best representative of Florida fauna. The panther is without a doubt the most formidable predator in Florida. Habitat loss has 

made the panther one of the most endangered animals in North America.

The Florida panther has embodied the natural landscape of Florida for many thousands of years. An elusive 

creature that is seldom seen by human eyes, the panther 

stalks the sawgrass prairies and pinelands of the Big Cypress 

Swamp. Silently ambushing its prey, the panther is a master 

of the swamp, helping to efficiently keep the wild game 

populations healthy. 

Home in the Swamp

It is no secret to cat owners that felines dislike water yet 

here in Big Cypress, water, the most abundant resource, is 

a pivotal aspect of the panther’s life. Where most other cats 

would starve based on their fear of water, the panther has 

adapted to life around our watery world. Inhabiting higher 

and drier pinelands and hardwood hammocks, the panther 

regularly interacts with all aspects of the swamp. It will make 

dens in the dense saw palmetto, lie in wait in the sawgrass 

prairies, forge through the wet cypress strands, and spend 

lazy days in the shade of the hardwood hammocks.

Fun Panther Facts

• The panther is a sub-species of the cougar and is also 

known as the puma, mountain lion, catamount, or 

painter.

• The panther once roamed from Texas to Florida to the 

northern part of Tennessee. 

• Panthers can live to be 10 years of age or older.

 

• Panthers do not normally spend much time in trees, 

although many pictures depict them this way. They are 

merely trying to escape the scientists who are tracking 

them.

• The panther is the only sub-species of the cougar which 

can be found east of the Mississippi River. 

Food Sources

While there is an abundance of aquatic life within the Big 

Cypress Swamp, the panther prefers a more terrestrial 

meal. The white-tailed deer of South Florida make up 

the main diet of the panther, but it will also hunt for wild 

hog, raccoons, rabbits, armadillos, and birds. While it may 

feed on these smaller animals, the larger the prey that it 

feeds on, the healthier the panther will be. For example a 

panther would need to feed on ten raccoons to equal the 

nourishment from one deer. In order to maintain proper 

health the panther must kill one deer per week on average. 

The panther will lie in wait, or patiently stalk, waiting for 

the right moment to pounce out of its hiding spot and seize 

its prey. Using retractable razor sharp claws to hold its prey, 

it will usually bite the back of the neck, and in one quick 

movement break the neck. These tawny brown colored 

animals are most active at dawn and dusk, factors that 

enhance camouflage among the sawgrass prairies in the dim 

light. 

NPS/RALPH ARWOOD
EXPERIENCE YOUR AMERICA

were introduced from Texas to add genetic diversity to the 

remaining population of panthers in Florida. The Texas 

cougars were returned after two years, but the introduction 

allowed the Florida panthers to start to revitalize their 

population. There are currently between 80-100 cats left 

in the wild. Nearly a third of this population’s territory 

ranges within Big Cypress National Preserve. The biggest 

problem for the panthers to date is habitat loss and highway 

collisions. More than any other reason, collisions with 

cars are the main contributor to the panthers’ population 

decline today. In 2007, 17 panthers were hit and killed by 

cars in South Florida. In an effort to limit the interaction of 

the panthers and cars, fencing has been installed along I-75 

and SR-29. This fencing leads to underpasses that allow the 

wildlife to cross the highways without risk of being hit by 

passing motorists.

The National Park Service works in conjunction with other 

agencies to study the panther in order to better protect these 

natural areas. A current plan includes fitting many panthers 

with radio tracking collars to better understand their dayto-day movement. The panthers are initially tracked down 

by members of the National Park Service and tranquilized, 

fitted with a radio collar, given shots of antibiotics, blood 

samples are taken, and measurements are made. This 

data helps to secure more effective ways of preserving the 

panther. The better the information collected, the better 

chance that the panthers may survive. 

 

Did you know?

There is no such animal as a black panther. The black cats 

commonly referred to as such are black due to a melanistic 

gene found in jaguars and leopards of Latin America and 

Southeast Asia. A melanistic cat has an abundance of 

coloring pigment in it’s fur that causes it to appear all black. 

It is the opposite of albinism, where there is a complete lack 

of coloring pigments. 

References

US Fish & Wildlife Service www.fws.gov/species/species_accounts/bio_alli.

html

Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission www.myfwc.com/gators/

US Fish & Wildlife Service http://www.fws.gov

A panther kitten warns an intruder to the den. 

Mating and Reproduction

A female panther will reach the age of sexual maturity by 

the time she is two and a half years of age, while the male 

is usually three years. The females will signal they are ready 

for copulation by scent, or by caterwauling, a yowl that is 

so loud and shrill that many people mistake the scream 

for that of a human woman. This has earned the panther 

the name of the swamp screamer. The female will remain 

pregnant for around three months and have a litter of one to 

three kittens. The kittens are born with many spots on their 

coats, which are used as camouflage while bedding in their 

den of saw palmetto. The mother needs to regularly leave 

the den to hunt for the extra food needed for her young, so 

the kittens must be safe and hiding maintains this security. 

By the time the kittens are two months old they will begin 

traveling out with the mother to learn how to hunt. While 

they are born with the instinct to chase prey, the proper 

methods of hunting must be learned. 

Decline of a Population

During the later part of the 1800s, many hunters sought out 

the panther due to the belief panthers were taking many 

farmers’ livestock. Florida has always been a major producer 

of the country’s cattle, therefore the panthers were hunted 

in record numbers in order to protect these livestock. To 

encourage the elimination of the panther, a $5 bounty was 

placed on all panthers, which led to a widespread loss of 

panthers across the state. This occurence coupled with 

a major habitat loss brought the panthers to the brink of 

extinction. At one point the estimated number of panthers 

in the wild was down to around 30. This was also a major 

problem because it caused record numbers of the panthers 

to inbreed. The inbreeding caused many genetic deficiencies 

such as cowlicks, bent tails, and sterility. Their entire future 

was in serious jeopardy.

What is Being Done?

The passing of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, allowed 

the panthers their first step towards revitalization. The 

panther was among the first animals in the United States 

to be placed on the list. They were immediately afforded 

federal protection, but this did not mean their numbers 

started to grow immediately. Initially a few female cougars 

1 1 5 6 11

39

62

2 6 4

1

14

39

36

1970-74 1975-79 1980-84 1985-89 1990-94 1995-99 2000-04 2005-09

Panther Deaths and Causes 

1970-2009

Vehicle

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous causes include predation, septicemia, dermatophytosis,

euthanasia, feline leukemia, shoooting, pregnancy, old age, ruptured

aorta, pneumonia, intraspecies aggression, and neck injury.

Data: Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission

NPS/RALPH ARWOOD

Florida Panther_FINAL.indd on HQ shareall, interp publications: 4,000 printed 10/2010, stored at Oasis & WC