Florida Panther Essay -- Florida Panther Restoration

As the deer fed at the marshs edge, its tail flickering as it nibbled tender and ripe green growth. Then the nervous beast pauses in its feeding and lifted its head to listen. Whatever hint of danger the deer had sensed was ignored erst the threat could not be located. It stamped a forefoot, lowered its head and began to eat once more, this deer had failed to detect a Florida panther that was downwind (going into the wind) crouched low in the undergrowth. Amber eyes however, estimated the distance betwixt himself and the deer. Then at the right moment attacked the deer, with bounds at over twenty feet at a time the panther exploded out of the underbrush pouncing on the deer and forcing it to the ground. Within fifteen seconds that panther stood breathing heavily over his unfortunate victim of life and death. This scene has been going on for many an(prenominal) years, the battle of predator and prey, but know the new predators are humans almost virtually wiping out the entir e population leaving only an estimated 30 - 50 Florida panthers left.Should the environmental leaders of Florida protect the Florida panther? The people of Florida think so, and that is why they named it their state animal. This panther is one of about thirty subspecies of genus Felis concolor. The subspecies, coryi is one of the rarest and most endangered animals in the world. Panthers, also called pumas, cougars, screamers, and mountain lions, once ranged from the southern end of South America into Canada. In appearance the Florida panther is connatural to other panthers, however this rare subspecies has several distinct characteristics such as, white flecks on the shoulders, a cowlick on the back (a cowlick is a tuft of copper that cannot easily be flattened) and a crook in the tail. This is formed by the last three bones in the tail, that is bent forming the stump on the end. Panthers fork over an average length of six to nine feet from the nose to the tip of tail, st and up to twenty-eight inches in height, and weigh from fifty to one hundred-thirty pounds. These panthers are lonely(a) and territorial animals and seldomly live together except for mating season. Following an approximate 90 day gestation period the females are more sedentary once the usual two to three kittens are born, but more than one kitten rarely survives and that is another reason for the low panther count. Flor... ...eestablish this subspecies old and free range areas. These goals were assisted in 1983 when the Florida Legislature established the Florida Panther Technical Advisory Council. The commission is firmly committed to take all necessary actions within their given authority to assure recovery for the Florida panther. The panthers are still going to need broad public support and active cooperation among all management. Civilization is the chief(prenominal) threat to the survival of the Florida panther, and so it will be until we learn how to respe ct these species that occupied the land we take before us. A land that was not ours to take and land we truly do need as bad for survival as these creatures. Works Cited1. Alden, Peter, Rich Cech, and Gil Nelson. 1998. National Audubon Society Field rent to Florida. New York Knopf.2. Brown, Larry W. 1997. Mammals of Florida. Miami, Florida Windward Publishing.3. Land, Darrell, and Sharon K. Taylor. 1998. Florida Panther Genetic Restoration and Management. Florida Game and Fresh Water angle Commission.4. Taylor, Sharon K. 1997. Florida Panther Biomedical Investigations. Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission.