ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT PROFILE

PROTECTION STATUS: Endangered

YEAR PLACED ON LIST: 1967

CRITICAL HABITAT: None

RECOVERY PLAN: Third revision 2008

RANGE: Primarily a 3,548-square-mile area in south Florida’s Everglades region, with some panthers sited in various Florida counties north of the Caloosahatchee River

THREATS: Primarily habitat loss, degradation, fragmentation, and associated human disturbances

POPULATION TREND: Genetic analysis suggests that the Florida panther population declined dramatically in the middle of the 20th century from a relatively high level in the 1890s. Estimates put past panther numbers at as low as six animals, perhaps around 1970, when the cats were believed to be extinct and before field surveys revealed a population of 20 to 30 animals. Since then, the population has slowly increased and is now believed to hover at around 100 to 120 animals.