MARCH 20 BIG CYPRESS WELCOME CENTER GRAND OPENING

[yakmaster]

[Kim Gass]

The center was open when we stopped by on March 16. Its well worth the visit. I especially liked the sounds of the mosquitoes.

We saw a panther on a side road not far from the center too.

Look for manatees in the back pond. We saw two.

[yakmaster]

The Manatee & her calf were there for the grand opening too.

Where did you see the panther?!?!

[Kim Gass]

Turner River Rd ab out 1/4 mile N of Tamiami Trail..just after the first left hand curve.

[Swamp Hunter]

Hello Kim. I would like to reply to your panther sighting in the Big Cypress. A few years back this was considered a rare ocurrance but this is no longer true. After the introduction of the Texas cats, the resulting mixed breed has created a lethal killer and more efficient breeder. De Soto's wild hogs of the Big Cypress would possibly soon be listed as extint if anybody cared. There were no hogs killed this past hunting season in the entire Big Cypress Preserve because there arent any left but a few very large male boars. The Texas cats ate them all in a very short time period. Sightings of small animals along the road has become a rare ocurrance. Even the Indians are concerned for the deer and remaining wildlife and have officially complained.. The Big Cypress is a resilient place but the introduction of Texas Mountain Lions has just simply created too many predators in the area. Add to it the expansion of large Pythons and every small animal is now in a fight for survival. You may notice that most of the panthers are skinny. Their food supply is dwindling. Its only a matter of time when a human will be attacked. Nobody wants to see the Florida state animal go into extinction but this is clearly overkill. Too bad the Texas cats wouldnt eat more alligators because we have a good supply of those. Maybe the "Florida" panthers could teach them. Just thought I would add my two cents.

[Keith W]

I don't know that I'd call the panther genetic restoration program overkill. The program was necessary to keep the Florida cats from inbreeding themselves to death, and the choice was to either improve the genetic health of the species or let the gene pool degenerate to the point where the species could no longer survive. All panthers, whether from Texas or Florida, are technically the same species (puma concolor), and historically the various subspecies would interbreed across their entire range. The south Florida cats became genetically isolated when their northern kin were hunted to extinction, and the resulting inbreeding resulted in heart and reproductive problems that were threatening their survival. The restoration was very successful and tripled the number of cats, and the result is a much healthier species overall. Naturally, this means they are more efficient hunters as well. The cats we are seeing now are probably closer to the original panther species that existed in Florida before development and hunting wiped most of them out. It may take some time before a natural balance is restored, assuming that we allow that to happen. I'm not so optimistic on that last point. As far as panther attacks on humans, you may be right. So far there are no recorded incidents of Florida panthers attacking a human, but that is probably due more to their scarcity and inaccessible habitat. As the population recovers there will be more interaction with humans.

[Swamp Hunter]

Hello Keith. Glad to hear from you. I hope you are well. Overkill was probably not a good choice of words on my part and I certainly agree that a genetic restoration was necessary and thanks for explaining that to our readers. I should have made that clearer. But what a turn around! What used to be a once in a lifetime sighting of the secretive Florida panther has now become a fairly common occurance. I guess we should call the Texas cougar introduction program a success.

I dont have the answers to the present overpopulation problem but many swamp lovers are duly concerned.. Its not a good feeling to observe skinny, undernourished panthers acting abnormally. What I mean by abnormal is not afraid of humans.. Surely we will never see a controlled cougar hunt in South Florida.

They are the same species but in many ways Florida Panthers are different in their habits, in my opinion. There is also believed to have been a past introduction of South American genes. Cats generally dont like water but were isolated due to developement and adapted to what was available. Historically they preferred the coastal ridge. Wild hogs were 40 percent of a panthers diet that has now been eliminated in the Big Cypress region..The last Florida panther living in Shark Valley adapted by eating alligators.

Its still a tremendous exciting experience to observe a cougar in the Everglades and I hope a balance can be obtained that will be satisfactory to those in the panther program, preservationists, recreationists, private land owners, the hunters, the Indians, and the wild hogs if they are allowed to return.

[Juan Estevez]

If what I read a while ago is correct there is really not too much hope for the Florida Panther. Supposedly each male needs around 200 square miles for home range and the female about 50 of so. If that is true; I just don't see where in Florida they will find all that space.

Juan

[Swamp Hunter]

The generic inbreeding problem may have been solved with the introduction of Texas cougars but the available home range remains the same. One female panther was documented giving birth in a tomato field, another on an island in airboat country.. At this point there are too many cats for the area. Thats what I am trying to say in a nutshell. There was talk of introducing Florida panthers into Arkansas.

[Swamp Hunter]

Heres a link about expanding the panthers range into other states. http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/southflorida/news/panther2006.html