Florida PantherNet - Official Education Site

Today the Florida panther lives in a fraction of its original range: the remaining expanse of relatively undeveloped lands in southwest Florida. This land includes Fakahatchee Strand State

View and print a detailed map of southwest Florida (PDF format)

Preserve, Okaloacoochee Slough, Picayune Strand State Forest, Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, Corkscrew Swamp National Audubon Sanctuary, Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation, portions of Everglades National Park, and large tracts in cattle ranches, vegetable farms, and citrus groves.

Study the population dot map below of the United States. What do you notice about southwest Florida? It is the largest unpopulated block of land east of the Mississippi River with the exception of northern Vermont and Maine . It is not a coincidence that it is also the only place east of the Mississippi where panthers are found. Florida is at the crossroads between the tropics and the more temperate zone of the eastern United States.

ghost orchid Tropical plants like this ghost orchid appear nowhere else in the United States

You will also find more plants here than in any other eastern state. About 1,600 plant species grow in south Florida, many of which are tropical (Maehr 1997).

satellite map of united states Examine this map of the United States where white dots indicate people. Notice one of the largest black spots (unpopulated areas) east of the Mississippi is in southwest Florida (just smaller than northern Vermont and Maine).

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