Cat Tale: The Wild, Weird Battle to Save the Florida Panther

Florida’s schoolchildren chose the panther as the state animal, and a decade later it nearly went extinct. But a ragtag band-some scientists, a veterinarian, and a veteran hunter-banded together to pull off a risky experiment to save them.

Craig Pittman is a native Floridian. Born in Pensacola, he graduated from Troy State University in Alabama, where his muckraking work for the student paper prompted an agitated dean to label him “the most destructive force on campus”. After 31 years at the Tampa Bay Times, he now writes a weekly column on environmental issues for the Florida Phoenix and co-hosts the podcast “Welcome to Florida”. He has written six non-fiction books about Florida and lives in St. Petersburg.

This Florida Talks program is a partnership with the Friends of Highlands Hammock State Park. Funding for this program was provided by Florida Humanities and sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture, the Florida Council on Arts and Culture, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

This program is part of the 36th Annual Civilian Conservation Corps Festival. The festival runs from 10 am to 4 pm and features arts and crafts vendors, tram and pony rides, big band music, a cow camp reenactment, antique car show, quilters, spinners, blacksmiths, heritage demonstrations, and more! Park entry fees of $6 per vehicle (up to 8 occupants), $4 per single occupant vehicle, and $2 for bicyclists apply.