Florida Panther Marked for Death Gets Temporary Reprieve

In December of 2020, Florida Panther FP260 was hit by a car, suffered injuries, survived and released back into its wildlife habitat.

Panther FP260’s story is back on the news testing the policies of regulatory agencies such as FWC and FWS that are designed to protect his species but this time, his nine lives may soon expire unless a roadside zoo or sanctuary might take him in. 

It began with an Immokalee rancher’s persistent complaint that Panther FP260 had been killing her calves and despite protest from biologists, federal agencies decided to remove FP260 from the wild.

Side Note: The Florida rancher is a former wildlife commissioner and it reached the top levels of wildlife hierarchy. Top agency coordinator wrote that FP260 should be “permanently” removed from the wild as “Immokalee rancher feared the panther would attack a human.”

I reached out to FWC and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and received this email:

“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission continue to monitor the location of FP260, and for the past several weeks the panther has been on public conservation land feeding on natural prey. Given the panther's recent behavior, the agencies are pausing on any plans to remove it from the wild. We will continue to monitor FP260's location and behavior and assess further action as needed.”

The Conservancy of Southwest Florida submitted a letter to all the state and federal regulatory agencies providing notice of violations under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The letter states their “opposition to the decision to permanently remove Florida panther FP260 from the wild absent evidence of demonstrable threat to human safety.” While USFWS is “pausing” implementation, the agency said, “we continue to have concerns that the decision is unlawful absent evidence of a demonstrable threat to human safety, and as the agency may still pursue their plans to remove this endangered Florida panther in the future.” Joining in the letter submission is the Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity.

According to Amber Crooks, Environmental Policy Manager of the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, “The verdict to remove FP260 from the wild is a real-world test which demonstrates that the agencies are failing to act consistently with the law and their own policies, based on the public information we have.”

Accordingly, public records showed that several FWS and FWC biologists who are experts in panther behavior expressly concluded that FP260 does NOT pose a human safety threat.

One of the FWC biologists wrote in an email on February 22, 2022 that “there was no evidence to support a determination that FP260 posed a threat to human safety,” and does not “consider FP260’s behavior to be abnormal and his movement in the past 14 months falls within the normal behavior of an adult male panther.”

Furthermore, the Conservancy’s letter is asking FWS and FWC to publish full justification for the determination to remove FP260 from the wild along with making public all investigation reports and to allow opportunity for the public to comment on the decision before being carried out.

On March 2, 2022, an endangered Florida panther was struck and killed by a vehicle in Collier County. According to the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), the two most common causes of panther deaths are vehicular collisions and panther killing other panthers (intraspecies aggression).

For 2022, eight Florida panthers have suffered death from vehicle collisions. According to FWC data, since 1981-2017, 59% of panthers deaths were from vehicular collisions. 2018 was the deadliest on record with 30 (14 in Collier County); 2019 with 27 (11 in Collier County); 2020 with 22 (13 in Collier County) 2021 with 27 deaths (13 in Collier County).

According to new census data released in December 2021, between 900 and 1,000 people are moving to Florida to live daily, not counting the millions of people coming here on vacation. They all drive cars at 80 mph and it spells disaster for many of our wildlife, including bears and panthers trying to cross major highways. This is how we hear of panther’s death – as an accident.

The Florida Panther (puma concolor coryi) is an endangered and protected species living on the edge of towns, next to people, raising kittens, crossing roads, finding food, and if they survive – they are the success story of conservation.

There are approximately 120-230 adult panthers in the wild and each individual panther is very important for the survival and recovery of the Florida Panther population.