Florida Panther in a Tree

White Oak Conservation Center, in north-east Florida, is a first-class research and breeding facility devoted to wildlife and habitat preservation. Located on 7,400 acres, with 600 acres developed for animals, the Center is an American Zoo and Aquarium (AZA) related facility with projects around the world, as well as locally.

White Oak is the only place in the country where injured or sick Florida panthers are nursed back to health and then rehabilitated back to the wild, in collaboration with the US Fish and Wildlife Service. This endangered cat, high up in a tree, is seen in a 17 acre fenced pen. From this pen, a dozen total have been radio-collared and returned to the location of their capture. The hard stare of the cat belies its precarious position in only 5% of the original home range, in South Florida, where there is little suitable habitat left.

This species is not without controversy, because its status as a "subspecies" is not clear. Some scientists claim that all of the North American panthers (cougar, mountain lion, catamount, puma are synonyms) should be lumped into one species. At an estimated population of only 80 to 100 animals, the probable inbreeding has been mitigated by the infusion of Texas cougar genes. Consequences of inbreeding in the Florida panther has been cardiac disease and low sperm counts in males.

For more information about the White Oak Conservation Center, visit http://www.wocenter.org/index.asp?id=wocc/animals.asp

Photos by: D. Loeb