Rarely do we see good news for endangered species in the local papers, but recently things have been looking up for the Florida panther population. State and federal wildlife officials announced in February that they were revising the official estimate of the number of endangered panthers from between 100 and 180 to 120 to 230.
The revised panther count should not change conservation efforts, as these magnificent big cats are still in danger of becoming extinct. They are threatened by habitat loss, hunting, lack of food, and humans encroaching on their territory, but still they persist.
A beautiful example of the graceful agility of wild animals, the Florida panther is an iconic part of our state's wild heritage and will continue to be protected.
*This post was originally published on May 5th, 2017.