TAMPA, Fla. — The film 'Path of the Panther' is playing in Florida theaters and the movie highlights the endangered species and efforts to save it.
Carlton Ward Jr., a wildlife photographer and National Geographic explorer, works with veterinarians, ranchers, conservationists and indigenous people to help save the endangered Florida panther.
"Panthers are amazing and they’re an umbrella species, so what happens to the panthers is going to affect other species. It certainly going to impact our ecosystem in a big way," said Tiffany Burns, ZooTampa's Director of Marine Life and Animal Programs.
The film highlights ZooTampa's efforts to rehabilitate panthers after the animals suffer an injury. The leading cause of death is vehicle collisions.
FWC estimates only 120 to 230 panthers remain in the wild. Ward said seeing the animal is very rare and it took time, energy and luck to capture images of the panther using camera traps.
The film also highlights the need to protect the Florida Wildlife Corridor, a network of land connecting wildlife through the state of Florida.
"The film highlights the work that the Florida Wildlife Corridor is doing and how important that is that we make sure we have that land to be able to have connecting land through the entire state of Florida. It's important to the panthers. It's also important to the bears, every species that we have here and there are some areas of that corridor that are very close to being developed," said Burns.
ZooTampa is home to three Florida panthers who suffered permanent injuries and cannot be returned to the wild.
"No one gets to see them that regularly, coming here to ZooTampa, it’s nice because you get a true appreciation for their beauty, their size," said Burns.
Path of the Panther is now playing in theaters. Visit pathofthepanther.com to find one near you!
The documentary will air in theaters across Florida before it’s released on Disney+ and National Geographic.
