Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens and Friends of the Florida Panther Refuge together with other national, state and local conservation organizations are celebrating Save the Panther Day.
The event will take place at Naples Zoo on Saturday, March 1, 2014 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. ahead of the official Save the Panther Day on March 15.
The population of the endangered Florida Panther is growing and the event at Naples Zoo provides an opportunity to find out about the work being done to save the state animal.
Naples Zoo Conservation Fund have purchased over 60 high-speed camera traps which are now in place at Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge and being used to monitor the panthers and other wildlife as part of a long-term study to monitor the health of the cats and their environment.
Visitors to the zoo will be able to watch some video clips collected by the cameras, narrated by US Fish and Wildlife biologist Larry W. Richardson narrates.
The organizations involved in this year’s event include Big Cypress National Preserve, Collier-Seminole State Park, Conservancy of Southwest Florida, Defenders of Wildlife, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, Friends of the Florida Panther Refuge, J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge and Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.