Wandering predator: Female panther found in Bonita Springs neighborhood

Chad Gillis, Fort Myers News-Press
·2 min read
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A young female Florida panther was found in a Bonita Springs neighborhood Monday.

"Found trying to hide behind the most minimalistic landscaping would be more accurate," Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, or FWC, panther biologist Mark Lotz posted on Facebook. "I think this poor girl got caught by approaching daylight and early morning landscapers and picked the first spot she could to hide."

Lotz said the cat might have found it difficult to escape the neighborhood in daylight conditions.

"It might have taken her a while to weave her way out of this cookie cutter complex with all the activity," he wrote on social media. "It was a smooth and easy capture."

A Florida panther trips a motion sensor camera set up by News-Press Photographer at Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed, or CREW, in late March 2020. A female panther was found in a Bonita Springs neighborhood Monday. It was relocated to CREW.
A Florida panther trips a motion sensor camera set up by News-Press Photographer at Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed, or CREW, in late March 2020. A female panther was found in a Bonita Springs neighborhood Monday. It was relocated to CREW.

FWC is the state agency responsible for protecting endangered populations like the Florida panther.

"FWC staff were notified of an approximately 1.5-year-old female Florida panther discovered within the Bonita National Golf & Country Club in Bonita Springs, Lee County, by community residents," Halie Seely, a spokeswoman with FWC, said in an email to The News-Press.

She said the overall outcome was positive for the panther.

"The Lee County Sheriff’s Office responded to create a safe perimeter and prevent crowding of the animal prior to the arrival of FWC staff," Seely wrote. "Biologists then successfully rescued and collared the 61 (pound) female before releasing it at Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed (CREW). FWC staff are grateful to those involved for following the correct protocol once the animal was identified, leading to a positive outcome."

Ways to coexist with panthers

There are no Florida panther attacks on humans on record, but FWC has recommendations on how to act in the presence of these big cats:

Keep children within sight and close to you.

Give the panther space. Most Florida panthers will avoid a confrontation. Give them a way to escape.

Do not run. Stand and face the animal. Make eye contact.

Avoid crouching or bending over. Squatting or bending over makes you look smaller, resembling a prey-sized animal.

Make yourself appear larger, open your jacket, raise your arms, throw stones, branches, etc. without turning away.

-If attacked, fight back with whatever is at hand (without turning your back).

Connect with this reporter: Chad Gillis on Facebook.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Endangered Florida panther found under stairwell in Bonita Springs