Florida PantherNet - Official Education Site

Endangered Species Conservation Act strengthens the 1966 act, authorizes funds for buying habitat, and regulates trade in products from endangered species.

Florida human population hits 5 million, over 2.5 times higher than 1940.

Alligator Alley completed during 60's. Land subdivided and canals dug for Golden Gate Estates.

Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission releases thousands of hogs in Big Cypress for people to hunt.

Miccosukee State Indian Reservation established.

Additional Piper stock released in Everglades National Park

US Dept of Interior Seal Endangered Species Preservation Act directs the Secretary of Interior to publish names of native species threatened with extinction and instructs heads of federal agencies to protect native wildlife.

More Piper stock released in Everglades National Park.

deer in water Excessive rainfall coupled with water pumped from the farmlands to water conservation areas to Everglades results in deer drowning by the thousands.

Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, U.S. Department of the Interior published first official list of endangered species.

Federal government lists the Florida panther as endangered.

Working for the World Wildlife Fund, professional cougar hunter Roy McBride and his dogs tree an aged Florida panther female in the Fisheating Creek area in Glades County.

Below: Fisheating Creek

Fisheating Creek - from SFWMD

Congress passes the Endangered Species Act (amended many times, most significantly in 1978, 1982, and 1988). This act defines an endangered species as any plant or animal species in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. A threatened species is one likely to become an endangered species in the foreseeable future. The act's goal is to restore all federally listed endangered and threatened species to viable, self-sustaining populations.

Through the act the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is authorized to do the following to conserve endangered and threatened species: restrict take and trafficking, develop and carry out recovery plans, seek land purchases or exchanges for important habitat, and provide aid to state conservation agencies.

Big Cypress National Preserve established "to ensure the preservation, conservation, and protection of the national scenic, floral and faunal, and recreational values of the Big Cypress watershed." The name Big Cypress does not refer to the size of the trees, but to the vast area covered by them.

Flatwoods in Big Cypress - Photo by Larry Richardson

Flatwoods in Big Cypress - Photo by Larry Richardson

State of Florida purchases Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve.

Below: dogs treeing panther in Fakahatchee Strand.

dogs treeing panther in Fakahatchee Strand - Walt McCown

Florida Audubon Society convenes a Florida panther conference in Orlando to discuss the status of the panther and strategies for its conservation.

"At the present time, it is not known whether or where a viable population of Felis concolor occurs in Florida."

-- Chris Belden, Florida Panther Recovery Team Leader (Alvarez 1993: 62).

The Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission establishes the Florida Panther Record Clearinghouse.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service appoints panther recovery team.

Panther shot and body recovered at ice plant in Homestead, publicity resulted in the Florida legislature raising the penalty for shooting a panther from a misdemeanor to a felony.

Florida Game Commission biologist finds tracks from 5 panthers in area of Big Cypress and Seminole Indian Reservation.

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