Going Catatonic

Now that the Florida panther is genetically healthy, the only thing it needs is habitat. Managers have long agreed that real recovery can't happen unless they establish three separate, viable populations in the species' historic range. They had hoped that one of these populations would be in Arkansas. In that state the FWS has identified four enormous blocks of prime habitat—one in the Ozark Mountains, one in the Ouachita Mountains, and two in the southern flatlands. But when panther managers approached the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, they were told to forget it. "Deer hunting is really big in Arkansas," explains Land.

Panther managers also had hoped to establish a separate, viable population in north Florida. So as an experiment, they placed 19 sterilized Texas cats on the Osceola National Forest in 1988 and 1993. The public was outraged. A father held his daughter in front of TV cameras and gushed about how he hoped to preserve her from being eaten. Deer hunters ranted to an insatiable press, and one, who had drenched himself with doe scent, reported that a panther had looked at him hungrily. Protesters held an anti-panther rally, formed an anti-panther organization called Not-in-My-Backyard. At least two cats were shot; one died in a snare. Finally, the state evacuated the survivors, eventually turning them over to a Fort Lauderdale man who sold them across the country. Nine died in transit, and one wound up on a caged "hunting" preserve.

Basically, it comes down to this: Popularity doesn't count for much if you're a Florida panther who doesn't skate. The nation has rallied to the cause of this beautiful and elusive cat, this icon of the Southeast's remnant wild. The vast majority of Americans favor recovery. They just want it done with someone else's money "somewhere else."

Ted Williams reported on the Florida panther's western cousin in "The Lion's Silent Return," Audubon, November 1994

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Join Friends of the Florida Panther Refuge (www.floridapanther.org) and the Florida Panther Society (www.panthersociety.org/panther.html). Educate yourself about panther issues on the same website and by logging on to the state's panther website (www.panther.state.fl.us). Tax-deductible contributions to panther recovery may be sent to the Wildlife Foundation of Florida, Box 11010, Tallahassee, FL 32302. Endorse checks to "Florida Panther Fund."