The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission posted on its website that hundreds of panthers were seen roaming around in the Florida wild.
In MyFWC.com/PantherSightings people care encouraged to report when and where they have encountered a panther or even its tracks. The commission has reported that as of August 2013, a total of 790 sightings were reported according to the National Geographic.
However, photos were only attached into 12 percent of reports. Of those photos evaluated by the FWC biologists, the majority was confirmed as panthers, others were identified as bobcats, cats, coyotes, dogs, and even monkeys. Often times when it’s not a panther’s track, it will be recorded as bobcat’s track.
Confirmed reports were mostly exclusive to southwest Florida, a place with a well-documented breeding range for panthers and several confirmed sightings were also noted in south central Florida.
Darrell Land, FWC’s panther team manager, said in an interview with the National Geographic that the masses' willingness to report what they have seen or encountered on cameras are very helpful and directs them to where panthers presumably are loitering in Florida.
Land added that as the population of panthers increases, more panthers can be sighted in the places in Florida where they have not lived for quite a long time. But in able to properly manage the growing population of panthers in Florida, data about their whereabouts are very important.
A new version of “E-Z guide to identify panther tracks” has been released by FWC and is accessible at www.FloridaPantherNet.org
The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission forecasts that the Florida panthers’ population may reach 100 to 160 adults and yearlings, a number that doesn’t include panther kittens.
The Florida panther was almost close to becoming extinct. Most of them are being killed by cars and trucks specifically in State Road 29 and Alligator Alley (I-75) and by hunters.
