More Florida Panther Habitat Protected As Range Seems To Expand

A cooperative agreement among the Department of Defense, the US Department of Agriculture and Conservation Florida has secured a conservation easement on a 1,000-acre ranch in southern Highlands County, WUSF reports.
The ranch is adjacent to Archbold Biological Station south of Lake Placid and is a location of several documented sightings of Florida panthers.
The easement will allow ranching to continue without being threatened by conversion to more intense land uses, such as development.
Florida panthers are known to disperse from their core habitat in southwest Florida along the Lake Wales Ridge and the Peace and Kissimmee River corridors.
Some find their way to the Green Swamp Area of Critical State Concern in northern Polk and southern Lake counties, which is a documented hub in a network of wildlife corridors in Florida.
Those travels may be expanding.
State officials recently discovered the remains of a road-killed Florida panther that was struck and killed while trying to cross Interstate 75 near Wesley Chapel in Pasco County.