One of the world’s rarest and most beautiful of predators lives right here in our own backyard.

Photo by Larry Richardson

HABITAT
The Florida Panther is a subspecies of the cougar and can be found living in low pinelands, palm forests and the swamps of South Florida. The panther, like many other cats, will travel to certain places to hunt and feed. This requires them to take up a vast amount of land, anywhere from 60 to 370 square miles. As a predator, the Florida panther feeds on a wide range of prey including: wild pigs, white-tailed deer, raccoons, birds, rodents, and even alligators!

Photo by US Fish and Wildlife Service

PHYSCIAL FEATURES
This creature is smaller in size compared to other cougar species, and has longer legs and a broader skull. Their coat is tan with white underneath and black markings cover their muzzle, tails and ears. Young panthers look strikingly different from their adult counterparts as they have dark colored spots covering their bodies and rings on their tails. Males can often weigh more than 150 pounds and can be 8 feet in length from nose to tip of tail. Females are smaller, weighing about 75 pounds and are about 7 feet long. The Florida Panther can live 12 to 15 years in the wild and up to 25 years in captivity.

Resources for this article provided by wikipedia.org, Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission and Invasive Species Working Group.