FWS Employee with Florida Panther

The tranquilized panther is banded for research purposes by FWS personnel. The Florida Panther is one of the most endangered mammals on earth. Only 30 to 50 adults are believed to survive in the wild, in a habitat that has been diminishing for decades. The Florida Panther once ranged throughout the American southeast, from the lower Mississippi River valley eastward to Florida and the Atlantic coast. Today, this species survives only in the subtropical swamps and forests of southern Florida.