Wild Cats Found In Florida

Perhaps there are some in this sunny state because they were released from a private zoo.

Wild cats found in florida. It is a large slender cat with a tawny coat and white belly. Officially one species of wild cat is found in Georgia USA and it is the bobcat. The only wild cats officially in Florida are the puma and bobcat neither of which fits your description.

The jaguar does not live in Florida or anywhere in the USA nowadays except perhaps on the Mexico boarder. Many people consider the Critically Endangered Florida panther a cougar subspecies. The bobcat which is one of two predatory big cats found in Florida is the most abundant wildcat in the United States.

Today in 2021 according to the National Wildlife Federation there are still only between 120 and 130. Black marks the sides of the muzzle and top of the tail. The Florida Panther Felis concolor coryi is found primarily in southern Florida in the Everglades and Big Cypress Swamp.

The Florida bobcat is about twice as big as a domestic cat and is easy to identify thanks to its short bobbed tail. Best estimate is that there is less than two hundred of these cats in the florida. These ants are notorious for their swarming behavior and painful stings.

In the 1970s there were only known to be around 20 Florida panthers in the wild. A single individual free-ranging cat may kill 100 or more birds and mammals per year. Anecdotally you will hear about sightings of jaguarundi in Florida from time to time.

Officially there are no jaguarundi in Florida as the map below shows. Florida Wildlife - Cats While there are many common names for Florida cats there are actually only two species. Scientists in Wisconsin estimate that cats kill at least 78 million birds per year in that state alone.