Thursday was International Cat Day, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) took the opportunity to share some footage of Broketail the Florida panther with her latest litter of cubs looking all grown up. This panther has an inspiring story and, in fact, USFWS calls her “everyone’s favorite warrior cat.”
Broketail is a 12-year-old female Florida panther famous for her distinct kinked tail and, more importantly, for being a good mom. USFWS previously shared a video of Broketail teaching her tiny kittens how to use a wildlife crossing.
“[Broketail] is an excellent mother who successfully raised all three of her 2021 kittens to dispersal age, which is no small feat,” USFWS says in its latest post. “In summer 2023 she welcomed a new litter of two (seen in this video). These two youngsters are still with her today as they learn valuable skills like hunting and how to use wildlife crossings under highways.”
In the video (which is trail-cam footage from earlier this year), three Florida panthers walk into view. You can identify Broketail since she’s larger than the other two cats and has a kinked tail. The other two panthers are Broketail’s kittens.
Broketail and one kitten walk toward the camera and nuzzle a bit before Broketail lies down. The second sibling then comes back onscreen to join the family.
Watch Broketail and her kittens here:
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Florida panthers (Puma concolor coryi) are a rare subspecies mountain lion. The Nature Conservancy reports there are likely only a couple hundred of these animals left in the wild. They only live in southern Florida.