X-post from GD: Florida panther released into the wild

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/04/florida-panther-released/2053733/

ROTENBERGER WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA, Fla. — When Florida Panther 223 last roamed the wilds he was just a kitten, but the 2-year-old male was released in Palm Beach County, marking the sixth successful rehab and release of a big cat in Florida's history.

The young male was found in Collier County nearly two years ago after a vehicle hit and killed his mother, Panther 188. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission biologists had documented and handled this panther, as well as a female from the same litter, several weeks before the mother was killed. After retrieving the mother, Fish and Wildlife biologists rescued the cubs. The female was released in rural Collier County last month.

"It's gratifying to give this cat a chance that he probably would have never had if we hadn't collared his mother," state panther biologist Darrell Land said. "He followed the script."

The script Land referred to is how the panther acted once freed from its wood and metal enclosure Wednesday. Flanked by biologists and, in the distance, media, the 123-pounder slowly made his way from the cage before galloping hundreds of feet along a dirt road in Rotenberger Wildlife Management Area.

*video at link*