Map Summary: National Geographic Explorer and conservation photographer Carlton Ward, Jr. is focused on conserving key corridors throughout the state of Florida that will enable panthers and other wildlife to thrive. Ward founded the Florida Wildlife Corridor project in 2010 and has since trekked 2,000 miles during two National Geographic supported expeditions to advocate for the corridor’s protection.

Panthers need corridors of land to move through in order to hunt for food and breed, but development throughout the state has disrupted this interconnectivity. This map shows the conserved lands that panthers and other wildlife can access throughout the state, as well as the developed areas that create challenges for them. The map includes layers that learners can toggle on and off to see the primary areas where panthers currently live in Florida, the patterns in panthers’ movements throughout the state, and locations where panthers have encountered human conflict.

Location: Florida, United States

National Geographic Explorer: Carlton Ward, Jr.

Explorer's Goals: Ward is an eighth-generation Floridian whose goal is to advocate for the recovery of the Florida panther. By developing strong connections with conservation organizations, researchers and landowners, Ward calls for the conservation of hundreds of thousands of acres of ranchlands and forests across Florida to allow wildlife to thrive even as land is developed.

Data Collected: Various layers of data tell the story of panther’s experiences throughout the state of Florida and begin to illustrate a more comprehensive story about the relationship between developed areas and protected lands.

• Developed Land is identified in purple. As learners zoom in on the map, purple regions on the map become further differentiated, with a color gradient showing the level of development; areas identified as light purple indicate less development relative to areas identified as dark purple, indicating more development.
• Florida Conservation Lands are identified in green. The names of these conservation areas are turned off on the map by default but can be toggled on to view.
• The land included in the Florida Wildlife Corridor that was signed into law in 2021 is shown in yellow. This land includes nearly 18 million acres of contiguous wilderness and working lands.
• Primary panther habitats are illustrated in brown. This layer is on by default and will appear as learners zoom in on the map.
• The movement of panthers north and west throughout the state, identified as Crucial Panther Expansion, is indicated with arrows.
• Locations where panthers have been killed by vehicles are visible only once learners zoom in on the map; these locations are shown with red dots.
• Florida Panther Tracking Data, turned off by default, shows locations where Florida panthers who have been collared by local wildlife scientists have been detected.

Questions for Learners:

• Zoom into the map until you see red dots appear marking locations where panthers have been hit by vehicles. What patterns do you notice in these areas of human/wildlife conflict? How is the land being used around these collision areas? Is the land in these areas being used for more than one purpose?
• Turn off all layers, then turn on the layer called Florida Conservation Lands (in green). Next turn on the layer called Florida Wildlife Corridor (in yellow). What do you observe?
• If you were to add areas to the Florida Wildlife Corridor that is shown in yellow, where would they be? Why?