As the deer fed at the edge of the swamp, its tail flickering as it nibbled on tender, ripe green shoots, the nervous animal paused in its feeding and raised its head to listen. Whatever danger sign the deer perceived was ignored once the threat could not be located. He stomped his foot, lowered his head and began eating again. This deer had failed to detect a Florida panther that was downwind (facing into the wind) and crouched in the undergrowth. Amber eyes, however, estimated the distance that separated him from the deer. Then, at the right moment, the panther attacked the deer. With leaps of more than twenty feet at a time, the panther exploded out of the underbrush, lunging at the deer and forcing it to the ground. Within fifteen seconds, the panther was breathing heavily above its unfortunate life-or-death victim. This scene has been going on for many years, the battle between predators and prey, but now the new predators are humans, almost wiping out the entire population, leaving only about 30 to 50 Florida panthers left. Should Florida environmental leaders protect the Florida panther? Florida residents think so, and that's why they named it their state animal. This panther is one of around thirty subspecies of Felis concolor. The coryi subspecies is one of the rarest and most endangered animals in the world. Panthers, also called pumas, cougars, howlers and mountain lions, once lived from the southern tip of South America to Canada. In appearance, the Florida panther resembles other panthers. However, this rare subspecies has several distinct characteristics such as white spots on the shoulders, a cowlick on the back (a cowlick is a tuft of hair that cannot be easily flattened), and a curl in the tail. This is formed by the last three bones of the tail, which are bent, forming the stump at the end. Panthers average six to nine feet in length from nose to tip of tail, measure up to twenty-eight inches in height, and weigh fifty to one hundred and thirty pounds. These panthers are solitary, territorial animals and rarely live together except during mating season....... middle of paper ......Then, in 1979, it became a crime to kill a panther in the state of Florida. In 1982, schoolchildren made the Florida panther the state animal. The Commission's Florida panther recovery goals are to prevent extinction of this animal and to reestablish former and unoccupied ranges of this subspecies. These goals were achieved in 1983 when the Florida Legislature created the Florida Panthers Technical Advisory Council. The commission is firmly committed to taking all necessary actions within its authority to ensure the recovery of the Florida panther. The Panthers will always need broad public support and active cooperation from the entire leadership. “Civilization is the primary threat to the survival of the Florida panther…”, and it will remain that way until we learn to respect these species that occupied the land before us. A land that did not belong to us and that we really need as badly to survive as these creatures do. Works Cited: 1. Alden, Peter, Rich Cech and Gil Nelson. 1998. National Audubon Society Florida Field Guide. New York: Knopf. 2. Brown, Larry W. 1997. Mammals of Florida. Miami, FL: Windward Publishing. 3. Land, Darrell and Sharon K. Taylor. 1998. Genetic restoration and management of Florida Panthers. Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission. 4. Taylor, Sharon K. 1997. Surveys.