Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge
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| Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge | |
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| IUCN Category V (Protected Landscape/Seascape) | |
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| Location: | Collier County, Florida, USA |
| Nearest city: | Naples |
| Area: | 26,400 acres (107 km²) |
| Established: | 1989 |
| Governing body: | National Park Service |
The Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge is part of the United States National Wildlife Refuge System, located in northwestern Florida, twenty miles east of Naples, in the upper segment of the Fakahatchee Strand of the Big Cypress Swamp. It is north of I-75 and west of SR 29.
The 26,400 acre (107 km²) refuge was established in 1989 under the Endangered Species Act, to protect the endangered Florida Panther, as well as other threatened plant and animal species. It is part of a network of private land and government protected areas. Some of the public sections of the system are the Everglades National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve and Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve. In all, less than 100 panthers use the area, with fewer than a dozen passing through the refuge each month.
To protect the panther and other endangered inhabitants, general public use is only available at the southeast corner of the refuge, on designated hiking trails. All other areas are can only be seen by way of limited tours.
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[edit] Flora
More than half, 15,000 acres (61 km²), of the refuge is woodland, with the other 11,400 acres (46 km²) made up of a swamp and prairie mix. Among the rare flowering plants there are tropical orchids such as Cyrtopodium punctatum and Epidendrun Nocturnum.
[edit] Fauna
Besides the panthers, the refuge is home to Big Cypress fox squirrels, bobcats, black bears, alligators, swallow-tailed kites and several wood stork rookeries.
[edit] Statistics
In 2005, the refuge had an 18 person staff and a fiscal year budget of $1,500,000 (with Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge). Approximately 8,000 visitors come to the refuge each year.
[edit] External links
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
- Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge at Recreation.gov
- Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge at EcoFlorida
- Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge at Defenders of Wildlife
- Population Survivorship Study on two species of native orchids in the Big Cypress Basin (rough draft) at SF Handbook Online
- Friends of the Florida Panther Refuge
