One more Cat has joined the notorious Dead Panther Society. Panthers are on the prowl and that means careless speeders running over the endangered mammal.
The same day the Fort Myers News-Press ran their annual rundown (so to speak) of the natural history of Puma concolor there was a road fatality in North Naples. Panther biologists estimate anywhere from 80-120 of the cats survive in the wild, so every death is tough to bear, but the accident on Sunday night didn't need to end with a dead cat. The couple that first noticed the injured cat called Collier County Sheriffs but 10 minutes later, the injured panther staggered into the road where it was hit again by a motorist who apparently was oblivious to the commotion on the side of the road as well as the speed limit posted there.
15 cats were hit and killed in 2007. Up from 11 in 2006. With never ending development continuing to push further into the swamps that the panthers call home, there is no doubt that fatalities will increase and suitable habitat may be gone within a few decades.
CLICK here for the recent news article.
The map I created below shows locations of fatalities from around the Everglades since 1972. Click on a bulb to get more information about each panther.
View Larger Map
That is very sad about the panthers. They should charge people an extra fine for hitting them and use the money to build above ground roads to keep the panthers safe.
ReplyDelete-Fireflower
they spend well over $500,000 per wildlife underpass. They work, but the cost is quite a bit. We need to end all future construction projects in the Everglades. That's the only way to protect the habitat from future degredation.
ReplyDeleteWhy am i not surprise about your findings, I was absolutely shocked by the lack of SAFE passages, and passages themselves, for wildlife, I guess the only way the state takes action is if there is a human fatality or accident involving the animals, so of course like any other place, they do not work to prevent but rather, wait for something bad to happen and learn from the mistakes, here in Arizona, the only reason funding was actually provided for many new passages for wildlife was because people were putting lawsuits against the Department of Transportation, for hitting a deer or some kind of wild animal on the road... but at least they are having more protection now, and conducting research through GPS collars to know where this animals are traveling and managing those areas with freeway fences and above and below ground passages...although i did read somewhere about collars being put on pumas and them being killed so they would not eat big game, and cut down on hunters getting licenses... well theres always two sides of the story... theres always some hipocrisy about what animals life is worth more, and restoring one by maintaining the other one, who is to say which wildlife has more value, i guess it could be the one that brings in the money and funds...I found this http://www.hcn.org/servlets/hcn.Article?article_id=17092,
ReplyDeletehttp://www.adlaz.org/programs/lions/
Heres the view from an Ecologist, a blog, not actual newspaper