Don’t erode protections for panthers
Florida panthers are one of the state’s best known and most revered animals, and estimates are that there are only 230 left. Yet federal regulators are reconsidering their status as an endangered species. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is studying whether an uptick in the panther population since 2014 is enough to downgrade them from “endangered” to “threatened.”
Changing panthers’ endangered status could do away with some of their federal protections. It’s a move supported by developers and ranchers who bristle at limits imposed on using panthers’ evershrinking territory.
It would be a historic mistake for regulators to weaken protections for the Florida panther. Instead of making things easier It would be a mistake for big land owners, state and for federal wildlife federal officials should boost regulators to downgrade efforts to save Florida’s big cats the protected status of and protect the open spaces the Florida panther. where they live.
Supporters of downgrading The species, with an their endangered species status estimated population of argue that panthers — their just 230, is too numbers diminished by sprawling vulnerable to put at risk. development, pollution and hunting in their territory — could survive without the same level of protection that has kept them from drifting into extinction. Their population of 230 leaves little to no margin for error in that argument.
Florida panthers face a relentless, long-term threat: Their territory is disappearing. With every real-estate sign heralding a new neighborhood under construction, the species’ chance for a comeback shrinks.
Today panthers are left with less than 5 percent of the territory they used to claim in Florida, according to the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Their need for breeding and feeding space clashes with developers’ — and homebuyers’ — hunger for Florida real estate.
Roadkill is another way to gauge the consequences of panthers crossing paths with mankind. From 2014 through 2016, the number of Florida panthers killed by drivers, 88, outpaced the number of panthers that were born, 61, according to state wildlife officials.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says that reconsidering the panther’s endangered status is a standard practice that will result in a recommendation, not an immediate change to panther protections. If a change from “endangered” to “threatened” is recommended, that would kick off more than a year of considerations for federal officials to decide what the new panther-protection rules should be.
Why even commence that process? The Florida panther’s road to recovery has been slow and remains too fragile to risk dialing back protections.
After the number of Florida panthers dipped into the 20s in the 1970s, prohibitions on killing panthers along with protecting remaining habitat and even bringing in panthers from Texas to boost breeding helped them rebound. Federal and state officials in February announced that the panther population had grown to as many 230, up from about 180 in 2014. That’s welcome news, but hardly a good reason to rush to change the rules that helped more panthers survive.
Development and other man-made pressures continue to squeeze out room for the panther. That makes it more important than ever to bolster, not diminish, protections.
The public has until Aug. 29 to submit comments on whether Florida panther protections should be changed. To weigh in before the deadline, email comments to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Dave Shindle at david_shindle@fws.gov. If you prefer to send a letter, the address is: South Florida Ecological Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 12085 State Road 29 South, Immokalee, FL 34142.