Panther shot in Georgia came from Florida

By Steve Visser

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The panther a hunter shot last year in Troup County was a Florida panther which likely wandered north, officials said Wednesday after genetic testing showed it was a federally protected animal.

A deer hunter last November shot the panther when he observed the cat from his tree stand.

Genetic testing by the National Cancer Institute, Laboratory of Genomic Diversity, indicated that the panther came from a resident southern Florida population, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service announced.

The hunter reported the killing to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and has not been charged in the case.

Authorities took the animal to the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study in Athens where an examination revealed the cat had been in excellent nutritional condition. Because panthers had not been documented in Georgia for years, authorities initially suspected the animal escaped from captivity but now they believe the young male had wandered from Florida in search of his own hunting territory.

The Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating the case because the Florida panther is a federally protected species. The cats once ranged throughout the southeastern United States but now the population is estimated to be limited to 100 to 120 panthers in south Florida — less than five percent of the historic range.

Authorities know the cats range beyond the Everglades because some have been killed by cars on roads in the Florida Panhandle.

“Finding a Florida panther that far from southwest Florida is out of the ordinary, but male panthers, particularly younger ones, can travel great distances,” said Paul Souza, Field Supervisor of the South Florida Ecological Services Office. “While it’s unusual for panthers to be seen that far north, it is not impossible for a young male to travel so far.”

—STEVE VISSER