On August 31, a trail camera captured a family of endangered Florida panthers prowling through foliage near Immokalee, an unincorporated area in Collier County. One of the three images posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) by WINK News reporter Matt Devitt shows the panthers lurking in a single-file line.
"WOW!" Devitt wrote in the post alongside the series of photos.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) tells New Times the photos were taken on a volunteer's trail camera in Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed (CREW) Wildlife and Environmental Area, a 28,000-acre wildlife park in Collier County.WOW! Check out all the Florida panthers caught on a trail cam over the weekend near Immokalee! 🐆 Credit: Tom Mortensen @WINKNews #Florida pic.twitter.com/HZxseIHR1h
— Matt Devitt (@MattDevittWX) September 2, 2024
The FWC explains that capturing an entire family group in a single photo is not only rare but also valuable for biologists studying Florida panthers' survival.
"It is important for FWC biologists to document panther reproduction and survival of panther kittens," the FWC wrote in a statement. "Photos like these can indicate that panthers are reproducing and raising their kittens to an age where they can disperse, enhancing future generations."
According to the FWC, only 120 to 230 adult panthers remain in Florida today.
The survival of the endangered species has been increasingly threatened in recent years by human causes like car collisions and habitat loss from development. But while habitat loss and sea-level rise pose a massive threat to the Florida panther's long-term survival, the majority of panther deaths this year were caused by cars.
Of the 19 panthers that have died since January, 15 were killed by vehicles, three died from an "unknown" cause, and another was killed by a freight train, according to the FWC.
Although capturing an entire family of panthers in one camera shot is uncommon, the FWC notes that it is not unprecedented.
In 2020, while investigating a rare disease among Florida panthers called feline leukomyelopathy (FLM), the FWC monitored four panther family groups using trail cameras. In 2021, the nonprofit Bergeron Everglades Foundation posted a video on Facebook showing a family of at least three panthers walking past its camera together at night.
"Each member of this panther family group stops to check out our camera trap, before disappearing into the night," the video's caption reads.
FWC biologists urge people to report any sightings of panthers or their tracks on its website, which features a form for submitting details and uploading images.
