While on a photography assignment in the swamps of southwestern Florida, Carlton Ward Jr. noticed a flickering tail. It turned out to be the tail of the elusive Florida panther, a species listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Ward, a wildlife photographer and filmmaker, teamed up with conservationists, filmmakers, and biologists to create "Path of the Panther," a documentary that highlights the struggle to shield the endangered feline from the threats posed by urban expansion.
The documentary's central figure is Babs, a female Florida panther. However, the film's true focus is the Florida Wildlife Corridor, an 18-million-acre protected region crucial to the panther's survival and that of other species threatened by development. Wildlife corridors, which serve as uninterrupted routes for wildlife to traverse without encountering roads or development, are vital for the conservation of species that require vast territories.
The Florida panther population has grown from fewer than 30 in the 1970s to over 200 today. Nevertheless, the species continues to face threats from aggressive development, resulting in habitat loss and the proliferation of highways. Vehicle collisions are now the leading cause of death for the panther.
Ward and his collaborators devised the concept of creating a secure pathway to provide wildlife with the necessary room to roam. The group established a nonprofit organization in 2010 to support the project. In 2020, when the Florida Department of Transportation proposed a toll road that would slice through panther territory, conservationists and organizations like the Nature Conservancy opposed the plan.
The filmmakers chose the panther, Florida's state animal, as the ideal representative for the wildlife corridor. They opted to concentrate on the protection the corridor could offer rather than the negative impact of the toll road. In 2021, Governor Ron DeSantis signed the Florida Wildlife Corridor Act with unanimous support, protecting nearly 10 million acres of land.
According to Eric Bendick, the film's director, the panther's survival depends on overcoming these obstacles and restoring their ability to roam freely. The protection of the Florida Wildlife Corridor is a significant step towards achieving this goal.
