A Naples Zoo Conservation Program

The Panther Crossing campaign is just one component of Naples Zoo's ​​​portfolio of conservation efforts ranging from efforts for local species to international programs for some of the planet's most iconic species. 
A Historical Commitment
Naples Zoo's conservation focus dates back to garden's founder Dr. Henry Nehrling , a botanist and ornithologist. He planted on the grounds of what would become Naples Zoo between 1919 and 1929. Years earlier in 1904, he wrote, "It is high time to protect and preserve what is still left in Florida." ​
In the 1930s, a young Lawrence Tetzlaff traveled throughout the wilds of Florida. By the 1960s after seeing the rapid changes, he and his wife Nancy Jane taught audiences in the Midwest about the conservation needs in Florida through a program called "The Vanishing Everglades."  Better known by their stage names Jungle Larry and Safari Jane, they introduced the exotic animals to the Naples garden in 1969.
Ongoing Caring and Conserving
​In 2015, Naples Zoo created a behind-the-scenes facility to provide temporary care for injured or orphaned panthers to allow Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission biologists a resource in the heart of the panther's range. For decades, Naples Zoo has also hosted an annual educational event for panthers and currently hosts the Florida Panther Festival on the first Saturday in November.

People and Panthers

With a growing population of both people and panthers, there are more opportunities for encounters - and not all of them are positive. Naples Zoo provided a permanent home to a panther shown here that was blinded after being struck by two blasts from a shotgun. Sadly, he passed away in 2018. The zoo is currently home to a female panther that was found by biologists in Big Cypress National Preserve when she was left behind in a den at less than three weeks of age.

Road to Survival

Learning to live with Florida panthers means panthers are able to live at all. Beyond driving posted speeds in wildlife crossing zones, there are a variety of ways we can make commonsense changes to live with panthers and other wildlife. Visit the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's ​panther website and www.thefloridapanther.org to explore more of these options and create a better future for panthers and all Floridians.

Aspects of promoting this campaign were made possible through the Naples Zoo and Big Cypress National Preserve’s Zoo-Park Partnership for America’s Keystone Wildlife™.