The Florida panther once roamed across the southeastern United States, but today the big cat’s future depends on a much smaller patch of wild land in South Florida and on the people trying to prove why that land still matters.
In a Tampa Bay 28 report, journalist Michael Paluska followed wildlife filmmakers and a biologist into panther territory to show how trail cameras are being used to document one of America’s most endangered big cats. The images are beautiful, but the story behind them is far more urgent: if Florida keeps losing wild land, those photos could one day become evidence of what used to exist.
Paluska reported that the Florida panther was nearly hunted out of existence, with only 10 to 20 left in the wild at one point. Today, the population has improved, but it remains fragile, with an estimated 120 to 230 panthers still roaming South Florida.
A Big Cat Pushed Into A Small Corner
Paluska opened the report by explaining that 250 years ago, the Florida panther ranged across the entire southeastern United States. Now, he said, only a small pocket of South Florida remains for the species east of the Mississippi River.
That loss is what makes the work of the fStop Foundation so important. The nonprofit uses photography and trail cameras to show people animals they may never see in person, hoping that a closer look will create public support for protection.
Paluska traveled with father and son wildlife filmmakers William and Max Freund, along with wildlife biologist Sean McHugh, into the Greater Ok Slough Ecosystem, where the group searched for signs of panthers and checked cameras hidden in the landscape.
On one stop, Paluska saw panther tracks in soft sugar sand, a moment he described with clear excitement.
“This is the first time I’ve seen panther tracks in the wild,” Paluska said.
McHugh called the area a “panther stronghold,” explaining that places like the Everglades and the Ok Slough ecosystem helped the panther survive because they were wild and inaccessible enough to offer protection from human persecution before roads pushed deeper into the landscape.
Cameras Capture What People Rarely See
The fStop Foundation’s method is patient and methodical. The team scouts for tracks, studies terrain, places cameras in the right locations, and waits for wildlife to move through.
That patience can pay off in remarkable ways. As the team checked one camera, William Freund spotted a panther passing by with a kitten, a moment that carried both scientific and emotional weight.
“Got 269 with her kitten walking right by the camera,” William said as he reviewed the footage.
For Max Freund, the images matter because they allow ordinary people to experience an animal they may otherwise never encounter. He told Paluska that he has personally never seen a panther in the wild, even though the cameras prove they are still there and still reproducing.
“We see them in the cameras, and we know that they’re around, and they’re thriving, and they have their challenges,” Max said. “But to be able to show people and let them experience something they’ll never see is really important.”
There is something moving about that idea. The panther is alive, but it is also hidden, and the public may only understand what is at stake if the cameras bring those private moments into view.
The Land Is The Real Lifeline
McHugh told Paluska that protecting enough space is the key to the panther’s survival.
“These are the types of places that save the panther,” McHugh said. “If you have enough space, they will reproduce, and from there, the population can continue to sustain itself.”
That sounds simple, but in Florida, land is often the hardest thing to save. Paluska reported that wild places are being bulldozed and cleared faster than conservationists can protect them.
William Freund described a familiar pattern in Florida land use: wild land becomes agricultural land, whether ranching, citrus, or tomatoes, and then eventually becomes what he called the state’s “last crop.”
Rooftops.
The phrase is memorable because it explains a long process in one plain image. Land is not usually lost all at once; it is converted piece by piece until the wildlife that once used it has nowhere left to go.
Paluska reported that one study found Florida could lose 190 acres of land per day to development over the next 50 years. For a species that needs room to hunt, breed, and move safely, that kind of pressure is not abstract.
The Panther Protects More Than Itself
Although the report focused on panthers, McHugh stressed that the big cat is part of a much wider ecosystem.
He called the panther an umbrella species and the flagship species for fStop Foundation’s work, but said it is not the only animal that matters. The same habitat also supports bears, bobcats, alligators, snakes, frogs, and many other species that depend on the same wild places.
“People have a tendency to focus on the panther,” McHugh said. “There are so many other important species too, and it’s all part of the same ecosystem.”
Paluska’s report showed that firsthand as the team moved through a cypress dome and other wild areas, encountering alligators, snakes, frogs, and signs of other wildlife. He described the place as beautiful and almost dreamlike, with dry ground, green grass, and the feeling of entering a landscape most Floridians never see up close.
That wider view matters because saving the panther does not only save one famous animal. It helps protect an entire network of life that disappears when land becomes roads, roofs, and subdivisions.
Storytelling As Conservation
William Freund told Paluska that the fStop Foundation’s work is built around storytelling as much as tracking.
“The key for us, especially at fStop, is the storytelling part of it,” William said.
He pointed to the old saying that people protect what they love and love what they understand. If the team can tell the stories of these resilient animals, he said, they have a chance to make protection happen.
That is a practical strategy, not just a sentimental one. Many people will never walk through panther habitat, read a wildlife study, or see a Florida panther cross a trail in person, but they may stop and care when they see a mother and kitten on a trail camera.
Conservation often depends on turning distance into connection. A grainy nighttime clip or a sharp trail-camera image can make a hidden animal feel real enough for people to defend.
Max Freund said the excitement never fades when a panther video begins playing.
“You never know,” Max said. “And that video starts playing, you just get excited, and you can’t wait to share it with everyone else.”
A Future Still Unwritten
Paluska ended the report with a hope that, 250 years from now, these photographs will not be the last witness to Florida panthers moving through the wild.
That is the heart of the story. The cameras are capturing proof of survival, but they are also recording a warning: the cats are still here, yet the places they need are under constant pressure.
The Florida panther has already come closer to extinction than most people realize. Its numbers have rebounded from the lowest point, but a population of 120 to 230 animals is still vulnerable when development keeps pushing into the land that made recovery possible.
The fStop Foundation’s images show panthers walking, hunting, reproducing, and sharing the landscape with other wildlife. They also show why the fight over Florida’s remaining wild spaces is not only about scenery or empty land.
It is about whether future generations will inherit a state where panthers still leave tracks in the sand, or only photographs proving they once did.
Gary’s love for adventure and preparedness stems from his background as a former Army medic. Having served in remote locations around the world, he knows the importance of being ready for any situation, whether in the wilderness or urban environments. Gary’s practical medical expertise blends with his passion for outdoor survival, making him an expert in both emergency medical care and rugged, off-the-grid living. He writes to equip readers with the skills needed to stay safe and resilient in any scenario.
