A trail camera captured rare footage of a family of four elusive and endangered Florida panthers this weekend.
The video was captured by a trail camera set up by volunteer Tom Mortensen in eastern Collier County in Florida on Saturday (August 31).
The photos shows a family of four Florida panthers — which consist of a mother and her four cubs — following one another in a single file line.
According to the Miami New Times, The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) says that the photos were taken on Mortensen’s trail camera in in Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed (CREW) Wildlife and Environmental Area, a 28,000-acre wildlife park in Collier County.
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 tells the Miami New Times.
“Photos like these can indicate that panthers are reproducing and raising their kittens to an age where they can disperse, enhancing future generations.”
Hunted to Near-Extinction
Florida panthers, also known as the North American cougar, are a rare subspecies of mountain lion that is currently endangered.
Florida panthers once roamed throughout the southern U.S. — with the species being documented as far north as Louisiana.
However, the panthers have now been confined to a small geographic area in southwest Florida after being hunted to near-extinction. In fact, it was one of the first species added to the U.S. endangered species list in 1973.
According to the FWC, only 120 to 230 adult panthers remain in Florida today. The population is capped due to the limited amount of space to house them and a lack of safe passage elsewhere in the state.
Cars are one of the biggest hazards to panthers and thirteen Florida panthers were hit and killed by cars in 2023. At least 13 Florida panthers have been killed on roadways so far this year.
The Florida Panther Project commented that Mortensen’s trail camera footage was captured not far from where several Florida panthers have turned up killed.
ABC News reports that The Florida Department of Transportation (DOT) has collaborated with researchers and wildlife conservation groups to build wildlife crossings across the state to allow animals like panthers, bears and deer a safe passage across roadways. The Florida DOT decides to build the crossings based on a number of factors, including wildlife cameras.
Image credits: All photos by Tom Mortensen/The Florida Panther Project.