HENDRY COUNTY, Fla. – A family living on a Florida ranch has been treated to repeat visits from one of the sunshine state’s most rare and majestic animals.
A female panther was seen stealthily moving under a fence while out on the prowl in Hendry County on Saturday.
Ariana Olsen from Olsen Ranch believes the female big cat just had kittens.
“Her pooch is hanging lower than usual and she’s out during the daytime,” Olsen said. “That only happens when they’re out hunting for their kittens.”
Olsen is concerned for the panther’s well-being.
She says it lives on private, mostly conservation lands that are currently being threatened by a project by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
According to a government website, “The Western Everglades Restoration Plan (WERP) seeks to use a series of active and passive water management features and water quality features and make alterations to existing canals and levees. The goals of the project are to improve the quantity, quality, timing and distribution of water in the Western Everglades in the effort to re-establish ecological connectivity, reduce the severity and frequency of wildfires, and restore low nutrient conditions.”
Olsen says the work would greatly impact the panther’s range and quality of life.
Florida panthers are protected as an endangered animal under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, there are only 120-230 adult panthers in the entire southeastern United States.
As for the beautiful panther that Olsen saw on her cameras this weekend: “We’ve been watching her movements for a while, and we saw her with a mate just last month. In a few weeks, we should be able to catch her with kittens.”