A Florida panther kitten has only been alive for one month but has already had quite an eventful life.
The kitten was found in late January in Collier County while biologists were conduction field research. The one-pound kitten was found curled into a ball and suffering from dehydration and low body temperature. He's now recovering at the Lowery Park Zoo in Florida, and his caretakers expect him to have a long life ahead of him.
Authorities aren't sure what happened to the kitten's mother, though they do think that the mother is still alive.
According to the Sun-Sentinel, the kitten was originally taken to the Animal Specialty Hospital of Naples for emergency treatment. After a few weeks stay their it was determined that the kitten was strong enough to travel to Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo. He's under constant medical supervision by Dr. Ray Ball, the zoo's director of medical sciences, and being a fed a diet of a milk substitute. In a few weeks he'll be weaned from the liquid diet and fed a meat-based diet.
The panther kitten will not be put on display during his stay at the zoo.
Because the kitten was not taught to hunt by its mother he will not be returned to the wild. Instead he'll eventually be transferred to the Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park.
Follow Miami New Times on Facebook and Twitter @MiamiNewTimes.
