KELLY FARRELL / Staff

A preserved panther named Ranger is unveiled by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Monday at the Naples FWC Field Office just north of Marco Island. Ranger was killed at age 3 by a motor vehicle on Corkscrew Road in Lee County, August 2006. The 136-pound male Florida panther will be an educational tool used by FWC and on public display at the Rookery Bay Learning Center on Tower Road in Naples. FWC estimates there are 100 Florida panthers left in the world and most are in Southwest Florida.

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MARCO ISLAND — As Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Captain Jayson Horadam put it, “when you get eye to eye with this panther, it can be quite eerie.”

FWC unveiled a panther educational tool named Ranger Monday at the Naples Field Office on Shell Island Road just north of Marco Island.

Ranger is the name given to the 136-pound male panther who was about three years old when he was killed by a Lee County motorist on Corkscrew Road in August 2006. The body of Ranger, then named UCFP87, was preserved because the carcass was in particularly good condition, said Gabriella Ferraro, FWC public information coordinator.

The original name stood for “uncollared Florida panther number 87,” said FWC officer Mark Mahoney, adding that the number helps scientists and law enforcement officers to become less attached to the endangered animals.

Ranger is now mounted on wheels, full size and life-like and will be taken to the Rookery Bay Learning Center on Tower Road for public viewing. Ranger is also likely to be seen at schools, fairs and zoos throughout Collier County and has already been seen at events as far away as St. Petersburg.

While many people are aware of bears, alligators and poisonous snakes in the area, Horadam said he would like panthers to be higher among the list of animals Southwest Floridians are well-aware of.

“Hopefully this knowledge and awareness will transfer into people wanting to preserve the panthers,” Horadam added.

There have been five vehicular panther kills so far this year, reported FWC officials. That’s a good year statistically so far given that in 2007 there were 15 road kills, breaking the historical records. Road kills were high, but there were also a record number of kittens born, said Mark Lotz, FWC panther biologist.

Lotz said 43 kittens born last year more than double the average of about 20 panther kittens born in Southwest Florida each year.

“Although they are having a dramatic come back, Florida panthers are still one of the most endangered species on the planet,” Mahoney said.

While panthers are on the top of their own food chains, their top threats are traffic accidents, fighting among other panthers, disease and loss of habitat due to development, Mahoney added.

Currently the FWC officials estimate there are 100 Florida panthers, up from about 80 a couple years ago.

Mahoney attributed the recent growth in the Florida panther population to panther speed enforcement zones and information gleaned from researching the panthers, tracking the population with radio collars and marking kittens in their dens.

Florida Department of Transportation installed panther crossing signs in early September along Collier Boulevard between Marco and U.S. 41 East. While the signs don’t require a change in speed, they are meant to serve as a reminder to look out for the panther, particularly between dusk and dawn when they are most active.

There are also three speed enforcement panther zones including two on State Road 29 and one on U.S. 41 in Ochopee, east of Marco Island. The speed limit is 45 miles per hour in these zones between dusk and dawn; they are marked with flashing lights preceded by vibration strips across the roadway.

While Mahoney and Lotz agreed that panthers pose less of a threat to humans than humans do to panthers, there are things people can do to protect themselves as well.

Mahoney said the only problem for people reported so far are panthers eating livestock, particularly sheep and goats in the Golden Gate Estates area. He recommended people build structures such as coops or barns beyond the common four-foot fence to protect their livestock.

There have been no reports of a panther attacking a human in Florida, Lutz said. None the less, children may want to learn protective mechanisms and pets should be kept protected indoors in the evening as well.

“In general panthers aren’t a danger to humans and they don’t really look to people as food items. Still the potential is there ... ,” Lutz said.

More information on the preserved panther, Ranger, and Florida panthers in general is available through FWC Web site MyFWC.com. To report a road killed panther call 1-888-404-FWCC (3922).