MEDIA ADVISORY: Aug. 18, 2014
FLORIDA PANTHER KITTEN TO MOVE TO PERMANENT
HABITAT AT WILDLIFE PARK
~Yuma, the newest addition at
Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs State Park, will move to his permanent home~
HOMOSASSA – The Florida Department of Environmental
Protection and the Florida Park Service will celebrate Yuma, a Florida panther
kitten, and his move to his permanent habitat on Aug. 21 at 10 a.m. at Ellie
Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park.
Yuma
arrived at Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park on April 3.
Yuma is a Native-American word that means “son of the chief.” As a one-week-old
kitten, he was discovered barely alive on Jan. 23 by Florida Fish and
Wildlife Conservation Commission biologists checking on the den of a female panther in the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge in Naples,
Florida. The kitten had apparently been abandoned, was dehydrated and non-responsive. He received emergency care at Animal Specialty Hospital in
Naples and rehabilitative care at Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa.
Since
he cannot return to the wild, he will live at Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs
Wildlife State Park, where he will serve as an ambassador for his species. Park
staff and volunteers have been preparing this exhibit for the rambunctious
panther kitten for the last seven months.
WHAT: Panther Kitten Unveiling
WHERE: Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park
Wildlife Encounter Pavilion
4150 S. Suncoast Blvd.
Homosassa, Florida 34446
WHEN: 10 a.m.
Aug. 21, 2014
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