Threats to the panther generally fall into three basic categories:

1. Population Security

The single, small population provides little security against extinction. In a population of this size, a disease outbreak or random fluctuations could reduce the population to a level to which it would be unable to sustain itself.

2. Population Viability

Population viability is threatened by numerous physiological and reproductive abnormalities prevalent within the population. For the most part, these conditions are considered manifestations of isolation and inbreeding, and possible environmental contamination. These include a high rate of abnormal sperm (90+ percent malformed), cryptorchidism (a testicle descending abnormality affecting 30-60 percent of males), congenital heart defects (including atrial septal defects), and possible immune deficiencies.

3. Habitat Destruction/Fragmentation/Contamination

Remaining panther habitat in south Florida is under tremendous threat from urban and agricultural conversion. Approximately half of the occupied landscape is under private ownership. It appears that habitats available to the radio-instrumented segment of the population in south Florida are at, or approaching, carrying capacity for the panther. In 1986, the Florida Panther Interagency Committee was formed to provide for a cooperative, coordinated federal/state recovery program for the panther. The committee is made up of the Service, the National Park Service, the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission, and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

 

Recovery activities generally focus around the following three areas of emphasis:

1. Actions to protect, enhance, and monitor the existing population in south Florida, its associated habitats, and prey resources.

Agencies represented on the Florida Panther Interagency Committee focus on actions on their respective lands to enhance conditions for the panther. Approximately 900,000 acres of panther habitat on private lands have been identified in the Florida Panther Preservation Plan (Logan 1993). The plan classifies habitats as either Priority 1 or Priority 2, based on panther use and/or habitat quality. Priority 1 habitats are used most frequently by the panther and contain lands of high quality native habitat. Priority 2 habitats are used less frequently by the panther and represent lands of lower quality native habitat interspersed with intensive agriculture, serving as buffer zones to urban development and other forms of encroachment. Efforts are underway to design cooperative conservation programs that will compensate landowners for maintaining panther habitat on their lands.

2. Actions to address population health. A genetic restoration program, designed to restore natural gene flow lost because of population isolation for a century or longer, was initiated in 1995. Eight P.c. stanleyana females were translocated into the population from southwest Texas. To date, eight intercross litters containing 12 verified kittens have been produced. Geneticists project that within a few generations, lost genetic variability and viability will be restored.

3. Actions to reestablish the panther into historic range areas. The current recovery objective is to achieve a minimum of three viable, self-sustaining populations within the historic range of the panther. To reach this goal, at least two populations will have to be reestablished populations. Fourteen candidate population reestablishment sites have been identified in a preliminary site identification/evaluation effort. A recently completed reintroduction feasibility study within a north Florida/ south Georgia candidate site, using Texas cougars as surrogate panthers, concluded that reestablishment of additional panther populations is biologically feasible. The study concluded that there are enough habitat and prey available in this site to support a viable, self-sustaining population of panthers. Based on preliminary evaluations, other candidate sites also appear capable of supporting panther populations. It now appears that the most significant remaining obstacle to advancing panther recovery is effectively dealing with sociological/political issues related to population reestablishment, which surfaced during the study. A program to evaluate and address these issues was initiated in early 1998. The future of the panther looks brighter now than at any time since recovery efforts began in the late 1970s. The genetic restoration program proved successful and the reintroduction feasibility study has shown that habitats exist within the panther’s historic range capable of supporting reestablished populations.

 

History of the Refuge

The Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge was established in June 1989 by the authority of the Endangered Species Act to protect the important Florida panther. The final recovery plan for the panther was approved by the Service in December 1981. The plan stated “. . . it is vital to acquire the remainder of the Fakahatchee Strand and the prairies and cypress forests adjacent to it to ensure that a unified management strategy can be effected between the Fakahatchee Strand, the Big Cypress National Preserve, and the Everglades National Park.” The Service purchased the initial 24,300 acres of the refuge from the Collier Family (for which Collier County was named) for $10.3 million through a series of fee title acquisitions. With the addition of lands from the Collier Land Exchange on December 18, 1996, the refuge grew to approximately 26,400 acres. The refuge encompasses the northern origin of the Fakahatchee Strand which is the largest cypress strand in the Big Cypress Swamp drainage basin. Orchids and other rare swamp plants grow within the strand’s interior. The refuge contains a diverse mix of pine forests, cypress domes, marl prairies, hardwood hammocks, and lakes surrounded by swamps. In addition to the panther, 20 other species of animals are found in the refuge vicinity that are state or federally listed as endangered, threatened, or species of special concern. The Florida black bear, alligator, wood stork, roseate spoonbill, limpkin, eastern indigo snake, Florida grasshopper sparrow, Everglades mink, and Big Cypress fox squirrel are a few examples. Other resident wildlife include whitetail deer and feral hogs, which are important panther prey species.