TAMPA, Fla. — We are only halfway through the year, and more panthers have been hit and killed on Florida roads by cars than all of last year.
Vehicle strikes are the number one killer of the panther. Each year, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Panther Pulse page tallies the dead.
"I think that it's really important to teach people how to coexist with not only Panthers but all the animals that share Florida with us," Tiffany Burns, Associate Curator at ZooTampa, told ABC Action News reporter Michael Paluska.
ZooTampa recently teamed up with the non-profit fStop Foundation to monitor trail cameras. In February, ABC Action News reporter Michael Paluska and photojournalist Reed Moeller traveled deep into the wilds of Polk County, hoping to catch a glimpse of the majestic panther on camera. No luck, then. But, months later, a lone male panther crosses into the frame of one of their cameras.
"It was an adult male," Burns said. "He did have a little bit of what seemed to be a front paw injury. He wasn't limping a little bit. But body condition. He looked very good, very thick, healthy."
"Is it a testament to protecting wildlife that we're seeing these panthers on cameras this far north?" Paluska asked.
"It's a great thing to see the panthers come up north; they have a population in South Florida. And if we want that population to expand, which we do, they have to expand their territory, especially the males; the males are going to use a larger, wider range. But we also need those females to follow. So, step one is getting the males to expand that range. But it'd be great also to see some females moving more north. That I-4 crossing is huge. They've tracked bears that have traveled along I-4 and could not cross and had to turn back. The same goes for Panther; we want this connecting land so that these animals can expand their territory without the collision of vehicles or even the threat of vehicles."
The new crossing is lined with six cameras from the fStop Foundation.
"And it's just an honor to have cameras there. And if we can capture the first Florida black bear crossing I-4, that would be phenomenal," Max Freund with the fStop Foundation said. "One of the goals is to connect the different black bear populations and ultimately get them off the endangered species list. Getting a Florida panther crossing would be amazing, and going north with a female would be incredible."
The images captured by the trail cameras are incredible. But a new exhibit captured by photographers at Wild Path, now on display at the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation, is just as powerful.
"It's in our backyard. And sometimes we find that wild Florida is hiding in plain sight," Mallory Dimmitt, CEO of the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation, told Paluska.
"What do these pictures mean to you?" Paluska asked.
"These photos are so heartening to see because they represent progress in land conservation protection in the state and an increase in the pace of land conservation over the last couple of years," Dimmitt said. There are seven different photographers represented in this exhibit, all associated with Wildpath, and each of these 40 properties is the first 40 that have been protected since the Act passed in 2021."
The goal is to get people and lawmakers all working to protect every animal living in Florida.
"We'd love for this to travel the state and especially to get in front of people who want to learn more about the wildlife corridor. And to come to Tallahassee where I think our decision makers, our elected officials, can see the progress since they took action to protect the corridor through the Act," Dimmitt said.
Another crossing is planned along I-4. This one will be an overpass with grass and landscaping on top to mimic the landscape.
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