THE FLORIDA PANTHER  
Puma concolor coryi OR Puma concolor couguar

The Florida panther is a critically endangered representative of Cougar Puma concolor that lives in the low pinelands, palm forests and swamps of southern Florida, USA. Its current taxonomic status (Puma concolor coryi or Puma concolor couguar) is unresolved at this writing. Adult males weigh about 150 pounds and live within a range that includes the Big Cypress National Preserve, Everglades National Park, and the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge. This population, which represents the only Cougar representative in the entire eastern United States, currently occupies only about 5% of its previous historic range. Estimates put the total number of living Florida Panthers at between 80-100, and since being listed as an endangered species with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1967, Florida Panthers continue to be one of the most intensively and expensively protected feline populations in the world.

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