The Florida panther or Puma concolor coryi (a subspecies of the cougar or Puma concolor) is critically endangered according to UICM. This beautiful feline is now quite difficult to find with a population on only 100 individuals after the introduction in 1995 of eight female pumas from Texas.
Melanie Culver of the University of Arizona and Philip Hedrick of Arizona State University compared DNA samples taken from museum specimens from the 19th century with samples from the 1980s. The conclusion of the study shows that the population fell down to only 6 individuals (including one female only).
It confirms that the hybridization with the Texas pumas was probably the last solution available to save the population.
Source: Animal Conservation.
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