Are there jaguarundi in Florida?

Jaguarundi
Jaguarundi by Jindřich Pavelka

Officially, there are no jaguarundi in Florida as the map below shows:

Jaguarundi distribution
Jaguarundi distribution per IUCN Red List as at Dec 2014 (latest information available).

Anecdotally, you will hear about sightings of jaguarundi in Florida from time to time. Perhaps there are some in this sunny state because they were released from a private zoo.

These are the countries at 2014 (the latest information available) where this small wild cat is found:

Argentina; Belize; Bolivia, Plurinational States of; Brazil; Colombia; Costa Rica; Ecuador; El Salvador; French Guiana; Guatemala; Guyana; Honduras; Mexico; Nicaragua; Panama; Paraguay; Peru; Suriname; Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of.

That’s about all I can say on the matter if I stick to answering the question.

THERE ARE MANY MORE ARTICLES ON THIS STRANGE LOOKING SMALL WILD CAT SPECIES ON THIS SITE:

6 thoughts on “Are there jaguarundi in Florida?”

  1. The author of the best comment will receive an Amazon gift of their choice at Christmas! Please comment as they can add to the article and pass on your valuable experience.
  2. About 20 years ago my wife and I were hiking somewhere in the Apalacicola National Forest, I think it was near Tate’s Hell when we were shocked to see a jaguarundi. Got a good look and I know this cat well because I used to see them from time to time in the jungle near Iquitos Peru, while leading Amazon safaris for Bon Voyage Travel. We just figured it must be an excaped pet or zoo release. It doesn’t seem possbile a breeding population could exist undetected so long this far from its normal range. Can anybody produce a picture?

    Reply
      • Lots of panthers is an overstatement, jaguarundi are secretive, elusive, darkly colored, and rare, all the sightings I have heard of are far from the range of the panther, most sightings have come from the panhandle, especially near the aucilla River area, there are huge tracts of deeply forested swampy River flood planes, if they are as elusive as the confirmed populations, its possible that they could hide, but I personally know two people who aren’t liars and work in wildlife conservation and both swear up and down that they saw a cat they describe as a jaguarundi, both near Aucilla at different times. If you have ever been far down the wacissa or other rivers in north florida you know there are some deep parts that no one has spent much time in the last few hundred years. Considering you could live in the jungle within their kmown range and go your whole life without encountering a jaguarundi also adds to the possibility. In the Yukon they say you are probably being watched by a lynx every time you go into the woods yet you rarely see them. Large cats can be extremely secretive.

        Reply

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