FLORIDA PANTHER KITTEN TO MOVE TO PERMANENT HABITAT AT WILDLIFE PARK

Florida DEP Banner

MEDIA ADVISORY: Aug. 18, 2014

CONTACT: DEP Press Office, 850.245.2112, DEPNews@dep.state.fl.us 

FLORIDA PANTHER KITTEN TO MOVE TO PERMANENT HABITAT AT WILDLIFE PARK

Yuma

~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