Amazing Photos of Florida Panther and Cubs Bring a Bright Spot to a Deadly Year

This has been the deadliest year on record for Florida panthers ( Puma or Felis concolor coryi ), but the critically endangered big cats also ended 2012 with some pretty amazing news. For the first time, an uncollared female has been photographed carrying her cubs to a new den.The photographs, taken by motion-sensitive camera traps two months ago, were released by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) last week. They show a mother panther carrying three kittens in her mouth, one at a time, as they travel to a new location. Kevin Godsea, FWS project leader for the wildlife refuges in the region, told the Huffington Post the mother may have been moving the cubs to drier ground after heavy rains. Many Florida panthers carry radio collars, allowing biologists to track their movements--and find their bodies if they stop moving--but this uncollared female was not regularly monitored. Biologists didn't even know that she had any kittens, let alone three of them, until they checked the camera traps. [More]