# @centerforbiodiv on Instagram

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DT3Q5oAiGE_
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/54159808-centerforbiodiv-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/545ba64168.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-01-23T18:37:34.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Center for Biological Diversity (@CenterForBioDiv) — https://gondola.cc/CenterForBioDiv

## Caption

There are likely fewer than 200 adult Florida panthers left in the wild, and their numbers are declining. 

To protect these endangered cats from a massive new development within their occupied breeding habitat in southwest Florida, conservation groups just notified the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Tarpon Blue Silver King I, LLC, of their intent to file suit in federal court. 

The notice says the federal agencies violated the Endangered Species Act when they authorized a 10,264-acre residential and commercial development project known as Rural Lands West in important “primary zone” habitat for panthers in Collier County, Florida.

“Relentless development is chipping away at the last remaining panther habitat in southwest Florida and making it harder for them to roam and recover,” said Jason Totoiu, Florida policy director and a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The Fish and Wildlife Service never should have authorized this project without first analyzing its effects on the panthers’ ability to recover, especially with so much of their habitat already lost to development. We won’t sit idly by and watch the agency allow this iconic species of our great state to suffer death by a thousand cuts.”

The notice says the Service issued a scientifically flawed, unlawful biological opinion that failed to assess how the project could harm panthers’ ability to recover in the wild, whether panthers are already in jeopardy and whether this project could tip the animals past the point where their recovery is possible.

Read our press release to get the full story by going to the link in our bio and selecting this post 🐾🐾

[Video description: An adult Florida Panther sits in a heavily forested area. The video begins with the panther scratching behind its ear. The panther pauses, listening, before the video fades to black.]

#EndangeredSpeciesAct #ESA #EndangeredSpecies #FloridaPanther #Florida #WildlifeConservation

## Stats

- **Views:** 3,460
- **Likes:** 1,549
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 33

## Tags

endangeredspeciesact, wildlifeconservation, floridapanther, florida, esa, endangeredspecies

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