Page 28 - December_2015_Life_in_Naples_Magazine

SURVIVING A SHOTGUN
ONE PANTHER’S STORY
by Tim L.Tetzlaff
But he was left with his life, just not the one
WNaples Zoo Director of Conservation most panthers expect.
alking through the woods one spring day, a Florida panther looked for a
palmetto thicket where she would give birth. Deer fawns were also being Now blinded, bleeding, and carrying shot
born in the southwest Florida wilderness while the panther delivered her in his face and right leg, he began a six-week
kittens. It was no coincidence. A mother needs abundant prey so she can trial to find food, fight infection, stay clear
stay close to her den to protect and nurse her kittens. Over the next 18 to 24 months, the of fellow panthers, and avoid cars. The latter
blue eyes and spotted coats of the newborn kittens changed to the yellow eyes and tawny was no easy feat as biologists theorize he was
coat of their mother and they struck out on their own. Like other panthers, they faced surviving on road kill. And that might have
the threats of disease, attacks from other panthers, and the dangers of crossing our roads. been his end had it not been for an alert driver
But one of these cats met a different challenge. This panther looked up at the barrels of a who slammed on the brakes after seeing this
shotgun – the last thing he would ever see. cat walking in the road.

Young panthers, especially males, wander far looking for a new home and can find When Florida Fish and Wildlife
themselves close to people. Sometime after leaving his mother’s protection, this two-year- Commission biologists arrived, the panther
old cat encountered one of us. When panthers and people meet, it’s typically a fleeting was still in the area and visible – odd behavior
encounter. On rare occasions, however, it can be bad for either side – whether it’s us hitting for these cats.The logical assumption was made
them with a car or them eating one of our dogs, goats, or calves. But where this cat was and that it may have been hit in a prior incident.
what prompted someone to act remains a mystery. After anesthetizing him, they took him for
urgent care at the Animal Specialty Hospital
What’s clear is that one of our kind took aim and pulled the trigger – twice. One of Florida where the truth of his condition was
barrel tore into his hindquarters and the other impacted directly into his face. The
flying pellets irrevocably shattered the lens of one eye and entirely collapsed the other.

28 Life in Naples | December 2015