Florida panther
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| Puma concolor coryi |
The Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi) is a critically endangered subspecies of Puma that lives in the low pinelands, palm forests and swamps of southern Florida in the United States. Males weigh about 250 pounds and live within a range that includes the Big Cypress National Preserve, Everglades National Park, and the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge.[2] This Cougar, the only Puma representative in the eastern United States, currently occupies only 5% of its historic range. There are fewer than 70 breeding individuals, with a total population of 87.[3]
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[edit] Threats
Recovery efforts are currently underway in Florida to conserve the state's remaining population of native panthers. This is a difficult task, as the panther requires large contiguous areas of habitat — each breeding unit, consisting of one male and two to five females, requires about 200 square miles of habitat.[4] A population of 240 panthers would require 8,000 to 12,000 square miles of habitat with sufficient diversity due to inbreeding as a result of small population size. The introduction of eight female Texas puma from a closely related subspecies (P. c. stanleyana) has apparently been successful in mitigating inbreeding problems.[5]
Southern Florida is a fast-developing area, and declining habitat threatens this species. The two highest causes of mortality for the Florida panthers are automobile injuries and aggression between panthers for territory. The primary threats to panthers include habitat loss, habitat degradation, and habitat fragmentation. The development at Ave Maria near Naples, is controversial for its location in prime panther habitat. [6]
[edit] Controversy
The Florida panther has been at the center of a controversy over the science used to manage the species. There has been strong disagreement between scientists about the location and nature of critical habitat. This in turn is linked to a dispute over management which involves property developers and environmental organisations.[7] Recovery agencies appointed a panel of four experts, the Florida Panther Scientific Review Team (SRT), to evaluate the soundness of the body of work used to guide panther recovery. The SRT identified serious problems in panther literature, including miscitations and misrepresentation of data to support unsound conclusions.[8][9][10] A Data Quality Act (DQA) complaint brought by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) and Andrew Eller, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), was successful in demonstrating that agencies continued to use incorrect data after it had been clearly identified as such.[11] As a result of the DQA ruling, USFWS admitted errors in the science the agency was using and subsequently reinstated Eller, who had been fired by USFWS after filing the DQA complaint. In two white papers, environmental groups contended that habitat development was permitted that should not have been, and documented the link between incorrect data and financial conflicts of interest.[12] [13] In January 2006, USFWS released a new Draft Florida Panther Recovery Plan for public review.[14]
[edit] References
- ^ Cat Specialist Group (1996). Puma concolor ssp. coryi. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this subspecies is critically endangered and the criteria used
- ^ FLORIDA PANTHER. Division of Endangered Species, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Last Retrieved 2007-01-30.
- ^ Texas Cats Help Triple Florida Panther Population. National Geographic News. Published 2005-08-18. Last Retrieved 2007-01-30.
- ^ Florida Panther Recovery Plan. The Florida Panther Recovery Team, South Florida Ecological Services Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Published 1995-03-13. Last Retrieved 2007-01-30.
- ^ Florida Panther and the Genetic Restoration Program. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Last Retrieved 2007-01-30.
- ^ http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/Fish/southflorida/news/maria2004.html
- ^ Gross L (2005) Why Not the Best? How Science Failed the Florida Panther. PLoS Biol 3(9): e333 [1]
- ^ Beier, P, MR Vaughan, MJ Conroy, and H Quigley. 2003, An analysis of scientific literature related to the Florida panther: Submitted as final report for Project NG01-105, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Tallahassee, FL. 203 pp. [2]
- ^ Beier, P, MR Vaughan, MJ Conroy, and H Quigley. 2006. Evaluating scientific inferences about the Florida panther. Journal of Wildlife Management 70:236-245. [3]
- ^ Conroy, MJ, P Beier, H Quigley, and MR Vaughan. 2006. Improving the use of science in conservation: lessons from the Florida panther. Journal of Wildlife Management 70:1-7. [4]
- ^ Information Quality Guidelines: Your Questions and Our Responses. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Published 2005-03-21. Last Retrieved 2007-01-30.
- ^ * Kostyack, J and K Hill. 2005. Giving Away the Store. [5]
- ^ Kostyack, J and K Hill. 2004. Discrediting a Decade of Panther Science: Implications of the Scientific Review Team Report. [6]
- ^ Fish and Wildlife Service releases Draft Florida Panther Recovery Plan for public review. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Published 2006-01-31. Last Retrieved 2007-01-30.
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