Florida Panther Genetic Restoration and Management

Land, Darrell; Cunningham, Mark; Lotz, Mark; Shindle, David

Telemetry data were collected on 41 radiocollared Florida panthers (Puma concolorcoryi) and 3 Texas cougars (P. c. stanleyana) in southern Florida during the reporting period. Fifteen radiocollared panthers and 11 uncollared panthers died during the reporting period. Eleven panthers died from vehicular trauma and seven panthers, including 5 females, died from intraspecific aggression. Three dependent-aged kittens orphaned by the deaths of their mothers were captured and placed into temporary captivity. One radiocollared panther died of a septicemia that was likely secondary to concurrent feline leukemia virus and feline immunodeticiency virus. A 15 year-old radiocollared panther is suspected to have died from malnutrition. Six panthers died of unknown causes, 5 of which may have a common etiology. Six new panthers were added to the radiocollared population monitored by FWC this past capture season. Our current verifiable population count is 87 adult and subadult panthers and does not include kittens at dens. We documented 6 panther dens during the study period producing a total of 14 neonate kittens (8 female, 6 male). No Texas puma produced litters during the study period and the 3 remaining Texas puma were placed in permanent captivity per genetic restoration protocol. All of these kittens were handled successfully at their dens, permanently marked with subcutaneous transponder chips, and skin biopsies taken. We have radiocollared a total of 118 panthers since 1981 and handled 148 neonate kittens at dens since 1992. Apparently, genetic introgression is reducing the occurrence of kinked tails, cowlicks, and cryptorchidism. Preliminary analyses indicate that the likely representation of Texas puma genes is on target with the originally proposed introgression level of 20%