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photo credit: Ezra Van
A Florida man was out for a walk and captured photos of not one, but FIVE Florida panthers in one morning. This is absolutely incredible! Ezra Van is a nature enthusiast and photographer. Van says he has been tracking Florida Panthers in the wild for a few years and up until January 13, he had never seen any.
But that fateful day in mid-January at the Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve Park in the Big Cypress section of the Everglades, he spotted one and then it only got better from there.
The FWC states there are only about 120-230 adult Florida panthers left in the wild, making them one of the rarest and endangered mammals in the world. Even at their best estimates, 230 panthers are not a sustainable population size. The Florida panther is currently listed as endangered and is protected under the Endangered Species Act.
“I can’t lie, I was still shaking from excitement an hour later,” recalled Van. “Many of the rangers that work days say they have been there decades and have never seen a panther, the Sheriff that work at nights says they see them every once in a while. I’ve been told that seeing four is a once in a lifetime event.”