The Florida panther

The Latin name for the Florida panther is Felis concolor coryi. The Florida panther is a subspecies of the American lion. The Florida panther is tan. It ranges from 6-8 feet in length. Its tail makes up two-thirds of its length. It lives in upper dry land habitats such as hardwood hammocks, pine flatwoods, and thicket swamps near wetlands. The Florida panther does not like extremely wet places. However, it will wade across waterways for food and drier land. It rests in or around trees during the day. At daybreak and nightfall it hunts deer, wild hogs, raccoons, rabbits, etc., that live in the wetlands. Border habitats between woodlands and wetlands are the ideal home for the Florida panther.

The Florida panther tends to be solitary. It lives, hunts, and mates in a very specific home range or territory. The male panther requires a home range of approximately 250 square miles. Another male crossing through this area can expect a fight. The female Florida panther needs a smaller home range--70 to 200 square miles. The difference in range sizes allows the male to breed with more than one female. This increases the chances of passing on his genes to another generation.

Black Panther

When you see a picture of a Black Panther it is most likely that you are looking at either a Leopard or possibly a Jaguar with Melanistic coloration. The term Melanistic is derived from the word "melanin", a dark coloured skin and hair pigment.

In cats, melanism results in the fur of the animal being very dark or black in colour. In many cases the usual markings of the animal can be faintly seen through the dark fur, especially at certain angles in bright sunlight. Melanism occurs because of a mutation or abnormality of one of the cats genes which is associated with coat coloration and markings. Melanism is hereditary, but is not necessarily passed directly from one generation to the next

Melanistic leopards are more commonly found in dense tropical rain forest of S.E Asia. It is thought that the dark coloration acts as better camouflage in the low sun light conditions of the forest floor, giving the cat an advantage in hunting. If this is the case, it is also possible that a black leopard will also be at an advantage in being able to provide more food for its young and as a result the probability of the melanistic gene being transferred through the population will be greater.