In the long term, the Florida panther's survival will depend on the cat's ability to expand into additional parts of its historic range. Residential and commercial development, due to Florida's rapidly expanding human population, increasingly encroaches on the panther's dwindling habitat. Development abuts the primary protected public lands that panthers depend upon. Roughly half of the cat's remaining habitat is privately owned, complicating efforts to protect panthers. Habitat loss and fragmentation pose grave threats to the remaining panthers by limiting their ability to expand their populations and separating cats from one another, which could lead to inbreeding in smaller subpopulations.
Genetic problems pose nearly insurmountable odds of recovery.
This isolation also increases territorial fights among cats, which are often fatal. Roads, which fragment habitat, are another direct threat to panthers. Collisions with vehicles are the leading human cause of panther mortality. Building any new roads in panther habitat adds additional risk to the cat's survival. The Florida panther joins several other imperiled wild cats featured in NWF's report.