Caught On Video: Florida Panther & Her Cubs
Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Instead of reporting about another death of an endangered Florida panther, there is amazing video of a mother panther and her three juvenile cubs.
The video was shared by photographer Brian Hampton. It's rare trail cam footage of a female adult Florida panther and her three juvenile offspring walking through Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Southwest Florida on January 4, 2015.
One month later, Hampton checked his trail camera footage again and found more Florida panthers at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. The trail camera footage from February 8th was taken at the same exact location.
It's difficult to determine if its the same panthers in both videos, but capturing these incredibly candid moments of these Florida panthers in the span of one month is unique.
Encounters with Florida panthers are rare but the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission does encourage the public to report suspected sightings by using their online panther sighting registry.
Florida's official state animal has been listed as a federal endangered species since 1967, when the popular was as low as 30 animals.
Despite the fact that 26 Florida panthers have died this year, 17 of which were hit by vehicles, the popular has been growing during the past 20 years and stands as high as 180 adults.
Despite these numbers, FWC officials said Friday August 14th, they have no intention of seeking to remove the Florida panther from the endangered species list or changing any protections. But the officials also said they believe it's time to rethink some of the criteria set by federal officials about what it would take for the panther to be taken off the list and what the state agency's responsibilities are.
Chief among those is loosening a requirement for Florida officials to establish panther populations outside of southwest Florida, where they are concentrated currently, according to a revision of a draft policy paper that will be voted on by commissioners in September in Fort Lauderdale.
