Sierra Club Statement on Record
Breaking Florida panther Deaths
Friday,
December 19th, 2014
Contact:
Alexis
Meyer, 727-490-8215 or alexis.meyer@sierraclub.org
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
December
18, 2014
Sierra Club
Statement on Record Breaking Florida Panther Deaths
Ft.
Myers, Florida – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announces record-breaking
year in Florida panther deaths.
Alexis
Meyer, Associate Organizing Representative of Sierra Club’s Florida Panther
Critical Habitat Campaign, issued the following response:
“This week, the Fish and Wildlife Service announced that the Florida
panther record for deaths in one year was broken, and a new record for road mortalities
was set, when three young male panthers were reported dead within twenty-four hours. Thirty panthers have died in 2014; the two biggest killers being cars (23) and
intraspecific aggression (fighting between the same species) (3). Overwhelmingly, people are causing the
decline of the already critically endangered species.
“The
greatest threat to the Florida panther is loss of habitat/fragmentation and
encroachment by humans. Both car strikes and intraspecific aggression are
symptoms of the much larger problem of habitat loss. Panthers have not received
critical habitat designation, the lands identified as essential for the
continued existence of a species, by the federal government. Instead their
habitat in South Florida faces a continual net loss every year. With reduced impact fees from construction,
the economy on the upswing and pressure from developers, miners, and oil
drillers, panther habitat is at a premium.
And the panthers are losing.
“As
panthers seek territory or mates, they are increasingly coming into contact
with humans, whether with their cars or their hobby animals. More deaths on
hobby farm animals, like goats and chickens, were also reported this year. But
with subsidized predator-proof fencing (Defenders of Wildlife will even help
homeowners set them up!), and a little education, the majority of these losses
could have been prevented. And while more people are seeing panthers, there has
still never been a confirmed attack by a Florida panther on a human being - not
ever.
“A few government and private
advocacy spokespeople are touting these record-breaking deaths as a success
story, claiming that it is a positive sign that the Florida Panther population
is growing. This wayward interpretation of a small increase in the panther
population intentionally sidesteps the real issue: One of the most endangered
mammals in North America is literally being run over by development. The Florida Panther is being squeezed out by
habitat loss, traversing roads without protective wildlife underpasses, and
being vilified in the media. Our state
animal, the embodiment of what makes Florida wild, is losing out.”
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