The Florida Panther

Directions: Please read the following passage and answer all of the accompanying
questions.

Image courtesy of Florida Panther Organization

1 The state animal of Florida, the Florida Panther is part of an ever-dwindling species.
Today there are only 50-70 of these panthers left that roam freely in the wild. Once
panthers numbered in the thousands and inhabited the entire southeastern United States,
including Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and
Arkansas. Today, however, what’s left of the population is restricted to a small pocket of
forest in south, which is shrinking due to over-development.

Images courtesy of Florida Panther Net

2 The Florida panther’s history is intertwined with that of Florida itself. It coexisted
peacefully with the Native Americans who first lived in Florida and was chosen by the
children of Florida today as the state animal. Named Puma Concolor coryi, it is one of
20 sub-species of cougar and has a life span of about 12 years. The genus Puma,
designates the Florida panther as a cougar or mountain lion. Until just recently the genus
of the Florida panther was felis. Concolor means of one color and this is suitable since
Panther have a single-colored tawny fur. Finally, coryi comes from Cory, the name of
one of the early ecologists who worked with the Florida panther.
3 The Florida panther is a creature of natural beauty. As a baby is it speckled with white
spots to camouflage it in the shade of its den. As it grows these spots eventually
disappear. Its long, graceful tail is also a distinguishing feature on its body growing to
about 2/3 the length of its body size. This helps to balance the cougar when it is about to
pounce.
4

Image courtesy of Florida Panther Net

Unfortunately there are several threats to the cougar’s survival. Car accidents,
inbreeding, insufficient number of large prey, disease, and environmental contamination
all contribute to panther deaths. The loss of habitat is the most severe of all the causes of
panther deaths. Although it is not included in the above chart, provided by Florida
Panther Net, that lists the causes of panther deaths, loss of habitat directly contributes to
many of the factors that are present. For example, it decreases the amount of territory
panthers have to live in causing them to fight among themselves (aggression), and
wander in to urban areas where they get hit by cars or shot by people (road kill and
shootings). The loss of habitat in southern Florida has been dramatic. Between 1936 and
1987, one-third of all unused land was cleared for development and agricultural use. In
this same time period the population of south Florida grew by nearly 5 million. Five of
the fastest growing cities in the US are located in here including Naples, Ft. Myers, Punta
Gorda, Ft. Pierce, and West Palm Beach. The growth pattern in southern Florida can be
seen in the graph below, provided by Florida Panther Net, which depicts the population
increase in that area’s three important counties.
 Image courtesy of Florida Panther Net
5 Under these conditions, even the publicly owned lands that have been set aside as
wildlife preserve are not enough to ensure the panthers survival. The panther depends on
private lands for 52% of its current range. On the other hand, there are ways that private
lands can be compatible with panther survival; panthers can survive along side of cattle
grazing, and sustained yield forestry. However, citrus farming is a great danger to the
Florida panther and thousands of acres in the south Florida area have been committed to
farming in the future.
6 Today efforts are being made to save the panther. Underpasses have been created to
prevent road kill deaths and money has been set aside to capture and radio collar
panthers for research purposes. Additionally, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has set
up programs to mix breed Florida panthers with Texas cougar populations. Mating the
two naturally compatible species will increase gene flow into the Florida panther
population minimizing inbreeding deaths and genetic defects.
7 Although the efforts are yielding results it is still uncertain whether they will be enough
since the panther population remains small and unstable. In addition, there has been very
little progress in controlling social issues and land problems that infringe on the panthers
habitat. It is certain that a continued and increased effort will be required to save this
species.
 UNIVERSIDAD COOPERATIVA DE COLOMBIA

NAMES____________________________________________________________

LISETH MABEL ANGARITA B.

LUIS MAURICIO LEON C.
FERNEY ANTONIO LEON C.

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS ACCORDING TO THE READING:

According to the passage, which of the following statements is not true?

1.
A. The cause of death of the Florida Panther has relatively stayed the same over the
past 18 years.
B. Federal, state and local efforts are being made to save the panther.
C. The panther is Florida’s state animal.
D. Loss of habitat is the number one cause of panther death.

The Florida Panther, as stated in paragraph 3, has a tail that is two thirds its body length to
help it maintain balance when it pounces. If a panther has a body length of 1.2 meters, how
long is its tail?
2.
A. 8 meters
B. 2.4 meters
C. 0.8 meters
D. 4 meters

In paragraph 4, the circle graph of radio-collared panthers gives an N of 37 meaning that

there were 37 radio-collared animals that were killed. Using the information about the
causes of death below the graph, how many of the 37 were killed by disease?
3.
A. 8.1
B. 3
C. 37
D. 29
Which detail does NOT support the main idea of the article?
4.
A. a decrease of territory is causing aggression among panthers
B. dwindling panther population is causing an increase in inbreeding
C. the panther named Puma Concolor coryi is one of 20 subspecies of cougar and
has a life span of about 12 years
D. an increase of panthers wandering into urban areas is causing road kill incidents
to rise

Which two paragraphs are NOT essential to the main idea of the passage?
5.
A. 2 and 3
B. 5 and 7
C. 1 and 5
D. 1 and 2

What is the meaning of the word mortality as used in the chart at the beginning of paragraph
4?
6.
A. aggression
B. disease
C. loss of habitat
D. death

How has the creation of underpasses helped to decreases panther deaths?

7.
A. to aid in capturing and radio-collaring panthers
B. cars can use the underpass to avoid panther habitats
C. to allow the safe breeding of Texas cougars and Florida panthers
D. panthers can use the underpasses to avoid traffic.