WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The Palm Beach Zoo is gearing up for Save the Panther Day on March 21st, joining communities across Florida in raising awareness for one of the state's most iconic and endangered animals.
WATCH:
WPTV First Alert meteorologist James Wieland visited the zoo's panther habitat to meet Sassy, one of the zoo's resident Florida panthers, and spoke with Amy Celestina about what visitors can expect.
"We're going to have some very fun activities here at the zoo for Save the Panther Day," Celestina said. "We're going to have our conservation partners here so that people can get to meet them and see what they get to do in their natural habitat and how we're helping them. And then we also have 3 different chats going on."
Visitors on March 21st can spend the day meeting Sassy up close and speaking with zoologists and experts about Florida panthers.
Florida panthers are critically endangered, but Floridians have done a lot to help the species by supporting and creating wildlife corridors across Florida. Corridors allow panthers to travel between habitats to find food, shelter, and mates.
Sassy, a rescued and rehabilitated Florida panther, has become a beloved fixture at the zoo — and something of a celebrity.
"Sassy is an amazing animal. She definitely lives up to her name," Celestina said. "She's very sassy. She was rescued, rehabilitated, and she has been here ever since. And so she definitely is an ambassador for her species and how we want to tell her story."
The zoo's commitment to Florida panthers extends beyond its own habitat. The Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society partners with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission on the state's Everglades Wildlife Watch project, which aims to document wildlife throughout the greater Everglades ecosystem and Florida Wildlife Corridor using remote wildlife cameras.
Staff also conduct fieldwork to study and support panthers in the wild.
"We want to make sure that we are able to do this field work because we want to be able to save Florida panthers in their natural habitat," Celestina said. "It is very important for us to see that and do that so that we can correlate that to how we work here at the zoo and being able to share that with our guests and have them understand not only are we trying to talk the talk but also walk the walk in every aspect when it comes to when we say we want to save the Florida panther."
Save the Panther Day is March 21st at the Palm Beach Zoo.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
