The ecosystem of South Florida is a very delicate balance of soil and water, plant life, animals, minerals, and weather. This system has evolved slowly over millions of years, but has changed dramatically in just the last few hundred.

Human habitations in great numbers have affected almost every aspect of the Florida ecosystem. Not all of these changes are bad by any means. A sailor stranded ashore in Florida in the 1690's would very likely have perished from starvation, disease, or animal attack in a barren and hostile environment. A modern sailor on a 1990's Florida beach has a dozen restaurants to choose from within a short walk. However, changes that are beneficial to humans are sometimes harmful to existing animal populations.

Prior to the arrival of large numbers of European settlers, the Florida pantehr was secure as the dominant or "top" predator in the Florida ecosystem. It oculd hunt everything and nothing hunted it, except for limited panther kills by Native Americans. Large game prey, particularly deer, were plentiful, and there were thousands of square miles of suitable territory. We have no numbers for previous centuries, but the panther population must have been numberous and, with a larger gene pool, was no doubt healthier than today.

Other than the panther, few large predatory mammals inhabit the South Florida ecosystem. The black bear is one. As a result, the panther retains its positon as a top predator today. However, circumstances have changed. Large-scale hunting of panther in the 18th and 19th centuries--for sport as well as to eliminate their perceived threat to settled areas--drastically reduced their numbers and restricted their range.

Increasing human settlement also affected the panther's prey population. Human hunters became aggressive competitors for deer. The shrinking deer population was once a critical obstacle to panther survival. On the other hand, European settlers brought with them domestic hogs; when they escaped and bred in the wild, they became the other primary prey animal in the panther's diet.