2008 Woodie Awards
Panther found on Florida highway roamed far from home
Kevin Spear(MCT)
Issue date: 3/28/07 Section: Outdoor
The Florida panther found dead Wednesday on Interstate 4 was thought to be one of the famed "leaping kittens" captured on film during its youth in one of the most beloved wildlife photographs of the rare breed.
The male panther, nearly 4 years old, had long drawn the attention of researchers by preferring to prowl in wilderness far north of South Florida swamps and forests that are home to nearly all of the endangered cats.
Known as FP130, the panther captured hearts when photographed with its mother and a sibling when it was just about 2 months old.
Scientists think FP130 was one of three kittens born to another often-observed cat, FP110, in late May 2003 in the soggy Okaloacoochee Slough State Forest near the Everglades. Less than two months later, mom and two kittens were romping through grass at the edge of a palmetto patch in the forest when they passed through an infrared beam, triggering the shutter of a remote camera.
Scientists eventually captured FP130 and fitted him with a radio-transmitter collar. Not long after the photo was taken, he set out on his own.
"It's like somebody lit his afterburners," said Layne Hamilton, manager of the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge. "One day he was south of the Caloosahatchee River, and the next day he was north of the river."
Problem was, none of his species followed FP130 into Hardee County. Most panthers in Florida are south of Lake Okeechobee.
Researchers studied FP130 for years. But batteries that powered his collar died last year, and researchers lost track of him until Wednesday.
"I'll bet it's FP130," said Hamilton, when first told that a panther was hit and killed near the Orange-Osceola county line.
State authorities were able to confirm the cat's identity by its collar.
Roughly a third of the 80 to 100 Florida panthers are wearing radio collars, which are attached to the cats when they are captured for health examinations. Between 10 and 20 Florida panthers are killed every year by disease, in fights and by cars.
The male panther, nearly 4 years old, had long drawn the attention of researchers by preferring to prowl in wilderness far north of South Florida swamps and forests that are home to nearly all of the endangered cats.
Known as FP130, the panther captured hearts when photographed with its mother and a sibling when it was just about 2 months old.
Scientists think FP130 was one of three kittens born to another often-observed cat, FP110, in late May 2003 in the soggy Okaloacoochee Slough State Forest near the Everglades. Less than two months later, mom and two kittens were romping through grass at the edge of a palmetto patch in the forest when they passed through an infrared beam, triggering the shutter of a remote camera.
Scientists eventually captured FP130 and fitted him with a radio-transmitter collar. Not long after the photo was taken, he set out on his own.
"It's like somebody lit his afterburners," said Layne Hamilton, manager of the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge. "One day he was south of the Caloosahatchee River, and the next day he was north of the river."
Problem was, none of his species followed FP130 into Hardee County. Most panthers in Florida are south of Lake Okeechobee.
Researchers studied FP130 for years. But batteries that powered his collar died last year, and researchers lost track of him until Wednesday.
"I'll bet it's FP130," said Hamilton, when first told that a panther was hit and killed near the Orange-Osceola county line.
State authorities were able to confirm the cat's identity by its collar.
Roughly a third of the 80 to 100 Florida panthers are wearing radio collars, which are attached to the cats when they are captured for health examinations. Between 10 and 20 Florida panthers are killed every year by disease, in fights and by cars.
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