Florida Panther Calls Kittens Across a Creek With a Growl

By Bethanie H

Published

02/08/2025

The Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge shared a video reminding locals to south Florida that as water levels start dropping, wildlife will be out hunting in areas that were previously flooded. The refuge shared a trail-cam video from 2023 that shows Broketail, a famous Florida panther, leading her kittens across a creek with a directing growl.

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“Broketail was born on the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge during 2012, and has had numerous litters on the Refuge,” write the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge in a Facebook post sharing the video. “The kittens in the video were born on the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge during summer 2023.”

In the footage, Broketail walks to the edge of the creek before assessing and then leaping across. If you turn your volume up, you can then hear a brief growl. In response, the first young panther follows mom across the creek. The second kitten seems a little more timid.

Florida panthers are a rare subspecies of mountain lion native to southern Florida. The Nature Conservancy reports there are likely only a couple hundred of these animals left in the wild.

Listen to a Florida panther growl to encourage her kittens to follow her across a creek here: