Athena’s Story: One Kitten’s Journey, One Species’ Future by Tim L. Tetzlaf

A few days before writing this, I helped carry a Florida panther into the Glass Animal Hospital, one of many that have arrived with little notice over the years. Panther response is rarely scheduled.

Back in June 2017, we had a meeting with filmmaker Chris Morgan about creating a panther documentary with Big Cypress National Preserve. Tammy Whittington, the park’s superintendent at the time, arrived with a kitten in her arms. While she bottle-fed the tiny cat, Chris discussed filming logistics. That kitten was Athena—the panther you see in our garden today. She was one of the lucky ones. The panther I carried in this week drew his final breath on SR 70.

Road collisions remain the leading human cause of panther deaths. A few months ago, a female panther was found near Copeland. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission team identified her as K408 from a microchip Big Cypress biologists had placed in 2014. Her story had been unknown for the last eleven years until it ended on August 29, but the number seemed familiar to me. She was one of Athena’s older sisters.

We can all help to give panthers a better chance on our roads by committing to drive the posted speeds in wildlife crossing zones. Driving 45mph instead of 60 mph in a 3-mile-long nighttime crossing only adds one minute to your drive, but it can give you critical reaction time. This kitten’s mother didn’t have that extra moment and was hit on US 41. She left behind three kittens, but only this one survived. You can join fellow Floridians in taking the pledge at panthercrossing.org and pick up your Panther Crossing decal at the zoo.

It’s a personal commitment to match Florida’s larger efforts that prevented the local extinction of Florida’s state animal. Florida Department of Transportation has invested in dozens of wildlife underpasses to allow safe passage for panthers and other animals, as well as the safety of drivers. Back in the early 1990s, only about two dozen Florida panthers remained with inbreeding defects. Scientists warned they could vanish within decades — potentially gone before Athena was even born. So Florida launched genetic rescue, bringing eight female cats from Texas to Collier County in 1995.

And it worked. Today, more than 200 panthers roam Florida, raising the generations of spotted, blue-eyed kittens we almost lost forever, including Athena. Her great grandmother was one of those eight.

Collectively, Floridians saved our panthers from extinction. Now it’s our time to act individually one safe drive at a time. See that award winning 8-minute film at www.thefloridapanther.org.

Did You Know?
Florida panthers are the same species of cat known by other names like puma, mountain lion, and cougar. In 1995, the cats in Florida and Texas were categorized as different subspecies, as different as a tiger in India is to one in Malaysia. Mixing subspecies was controversial but was necessary to prevent all out extinction. Modern genetics rendered this question moot. In recent years, the IUCN Cat Specialist Group concluded that all North American pumas, including Florida’s, belong to one subspecies. Contact me at tim@napleszoo.org

Tim L. Tetzlaff,
Director of Conservation,
Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens

To learn more or support these efforts, visit NaplesZoo.org/conserve

Together, we can create a brighter, more resilient future for people and wildlife

Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens is a private 501(c)(3) nonprofit entrusted with educating families and caring for rare species in a century old historic garden. Since 2014, Naples Zoo has invested over $3.5 million saving plants and animals in the wild and fully funds the annual salary of 27 field staff in 7 countries including three wildlife veterinarians.

To learn more about how you can invest in a better future for people and wildlife, email tim@napleszoo.org.