The Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi) has been on the endangered species list since 1967 with only 130 individuals surviving within a small area in Southern Florida (Sullivan 2004). Prior to conservation efforts, the Florida panther has suffered several population losses due to inbreeding, habitat loss, and vehicular collisions with only an estimated 30 surviving individuals in the 1970s (Maehr 1992). The number one threat to the Florida panther is habitat loss and habitat fragmentation due to urban development in Southern FL within the hardwood hammocks and wetland habitats in which they live in. Most of the current panther population is located within public lands such as the Big Cypress National Reserve and the Everglades, with some rehabilitation centers such as White Oak and the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge to help with conservation efforts within this area (see Figure 1: Florida Panther Home Ranges).
The loss of habitat over time for the Florida panther has caused problems with dispersal and inbreeding within smaller populations. Inbreeding within these smaller patches of land, has resulted in congenital birth defects such as heart conditions and abnormal tails resulting in shorter life spans and high infant mortality within the panther populations (Facemire et al. 1993). In an effort to ameliorate inbreeding, a subspecies of puma from Australia (P. c. stanleyana) was introduced into South FL and has increased current panther counts from 60 in the 1990s to 130 individuals in 2001 (Johnson et al. 2010). In addition to inbreeding, panthers also suffer from exposure to environmental contaminants from agriculture and/or from consuming wildlife (raccoons) containing mercury and androgen crippling chemi...
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...me 329: 1641-1644
Kautz, Randy et al. How much is enough? Landscape-scale conservation for the Florida panther. Biological Conservation 2006, 130: 118-133
Maehr, David S. Florida panther (Felis concolor coryi) : Rare and Endangered Biota of Florida found in Humphrey, S.R. (edition), Mammals 1992, University Press of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA, volume I: 176-189
Maehr, David S. et al. Florida panther dispersal and conservation. Biological Conservation 2002, 106: 187-197
Murrow, Jennifer L., Cindy A. Thatcher, Frank T. van Manen and Joseph D. Clark. A Data-Based Conservation Planning Tool for Florida Panthers. Environ Model Access 2013, 18: 159-170, DOI: 10.1007/s10666-012-9336-0
Sullivan, J.D., Jr. Florida’s endangered species, threatened species and species of special concern. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 2004, Tallahassee, FL, USA.
Man is responsible for the extinction of the North American megafauna (Donlan 2005, Rubenstein et al. 2006). Since our ancestors are responsible for the extinction, it’s our duty to fix what our ancestors have destroyed (Donlan 2005). Moreover, according to Donlan (2005) most megafauna species in Africa and Asia are endangered or under threat. Hence, relocating them to North American is a best way of conserving them because the country carries “Global conservation implications” and contrary to that Africa and Asia practice poor conservation strategies (Donlan 2005). He further argues that N...
...eestablish this subspecies' old and unoccupied range areas. These goals were assisted in 1983 when the Florida Legislature established the Florida Panther Technical Advisory Council. The commission is firmly committed to take all necessary actions within their given authority to assure recovery for the Florida panther. The panthers are still going to need broad public support and active cooperation among all management. “Civilization is the main threat to the survival of the Florida panther…”, and so it will be until we learn how to respect these species that occupied the land we take before us. A land that was not ours to take and land we truly do need as bad for survival as these creatures.
U.S. Department of the interior, National Park Service. (2013). Endangered Species. Retrieved from website: http://www.nature.nps.gov/biology/endangeredspecies/index.cfm
Within the state of Florida there are dozens of individualized, non-profit organizations making an effort to help the local wildlife. The local land and marine wildlife includes birds, geckos, frogs, snakes, panthers, manatees, sea turtles, fishes, sharks, corals, lizards and many, many more. Florida State is located on the Southeastern tip of the United States providing a unique opportunity for conservation of salt-water animals. While there are animal conservation efforts taking place all over the world, this essay will focus on two animal species that humans are specifically trying to save in Florida State. The two main animal species of focus are manatees and sea turtles.
Levin, T. (1998, June/July). Listening to wildlife in the Everglades. National Wildlife, 36, 20- 31. McCally, D. (1999). The Everglades: An Environmental History. Gainsville: University Press of Florida.
Soule, Michael E et al. “Ecological Effectiveness: Conservation Goals for Interactive Species.” Conservation Biology 17.5 (2003) : 1238-1250.
Manatees are loved by many Floridians. Manatees are known as one of the state’s natural wonders. They were once marked as one of the endangered mammals in Florida. The federal government considers a species endangered when it is at risk of extinction. Therefore, the federal government is downlisting manatees from “endangered” to “threatened.”
Christman, Steve. "Floridata: Carya Illinoinensis." FLORIDATA. Floridata.com LC, 30 Aug. 2000. Web. 18 Apr. 2012. http://www.floridata.com/ref/c/cary_ill.cfm.
8. Taylor, Dan. 1998. Audubon Society Inspired to Action by Bird Die -offs . 17 Jan. 1998 . E-mail . Available bkus@sunstroke.sdsu.edu
The Florida Manatee’s popular marine species in the tropical environment of Florida are currently considered an “endangered species”. The ecology (the relationships between living organisms and their interactions with their natural or developed environment), for the manatee (trichechus manatus), requires and is generally restricted to the inland and coastal waters of peninsular Florida during the winter, when they shelter in and/or near warm-water springs, heated industrial effluents, and other warm water sites (as stated in Research Gate (1997) Hartman 1979, Lefebvre et al). The Florida (West Indian) Manatee, An Endangered Species, has no known predators other than humans; in the past, humans hunted
In the Everglades there are a variety of different animals and species that seem to be able to thrive in the same habitat. The truth is that due to elevation differences, and therefore differences in the water level, the Everglades is really an area of interconnecting, but different habitats. One of the more important habitat areas is actually created by one of the Everglades most famous inhabitants – the alligator. The alligators move in and out of holes (depressions) in the limestone described above. By doing this they keep this area lower than the rest ...
United States. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 2010. Web. .
"Wildlife Assistance/Nuisance Wildlife." Wildlife Assistance/Nuisance Wildlife. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
The current population of the Puma in Florida is 50 as of 1999. Because of hostility toward the animal due to its reputation, highways being built through out the state, unsuccessful breeding, road-kills and contimination of their food and land. It is thought that in the next 30 years, the species will die out completely without people stepping in.
Sikes, Roberts. and William L. Gannon. "Guidelines of the American Society of Mammalogists for the Use of Wild Mammals in Research." Journal of Mammalogy 92.1 (Feb. 2011): 235-253. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 5 Oct. 2011.