"The society was started by myself and several other people here in north Florida. We recognized that if the Florida panther was ever going to survive, it was going to have to be brought out of south Florida to expand its population to sustain the south Florida population. There have been two experimental releases to see if they could survive in the north," said Williams, a hunting and fishing guide who lives on the upper Suwannee at White Springs.

In order to test the big cats' ability to survive in wild north Florida, U.S. Fish & Wildlife and Florida game and fish biologists in 1988 released five "surrogate" cats in the Osceola National Forest. The panthers were surrogates in that they were another subspecies of panther, the Texas cougar, that closely related to the endangered Florida species and a handful of captive Florida cats that had been kept in pens. There are only 30 to 50 Florida cats still alive, and biologists didn't want to endanger them in an experimental transplant program.

"One was shot, one was found in the river with a hole in it (presumed shot) and another one's radio collar was found in a pond," Williams explained. "The other two did what they were supposed to do, but they dispersed too quickly. One tried to go to the Gulf of Mexico."

The second experiment began Feb. 22, 1993 when 10 surrogate cats where released in Baker Co.

"They dispersed as expected. The younger ones sought new territories. One male migrated to Levy County where it was killed off Highway 124 at the McIntire lease hunt area. Somebody in the hunt club shot the cat.

"By the second year, in Nov. 1994, the animals were beginning to be perceived to be a problem by some local interests. A land owner up here stirred up his leasors and had a 'cougar rally.' It was really an anti-panther rally," continued Williams.

At that rally, biologists from the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission were "publicly abused" according to Williams: "There were 160 people at the cougar rally. It was a shameful event."

The outcome of the rally was that Barnett Bank established a $10,000 fund to pay for any livestock depredations caused by the released panthers, and Florida politicians seized it as a reason to not support any move to save the state mammal from extinction.

People were disturbed when they saw a panther, mainly because of the rumors and myths long attributed to all cats, but especially to the panther. Lots of people simply imagined seeing one of the cats.

"There were alleged cats stalking people, cats jumping on porches. One guy saw one, jumped into his car, locked the doors and nearly had a heart attack when he saw a cat along a roadside. People were calling in from places the cats didn't go. People 75 to 100 miles away from the panthers were seeing cats that weren't there," said Williams. All the experimental animals wore radio locator collars, and biologists knew where they were by checking on them three days a week.

One of the better stories from the anti-panther group came from a deer hunter who, after covering himself with doe scent, walking through the woods and climbing into a tree stand, was scared when a cougar followed the scent and showed up under his tree.

"What do you expect? Make yourself smell like a deer and, sure, an animal that eats deer is going to follow the scent," said Williams.

Finally, all the experimental cats were picked up by game and fish biologists, and that's where the most disgusting and tragic part of the Florida panther story begins.

State biologists tried to "place" the experimental animals at various zoos, but nobody wanted them. Eventually, a man in Ft. Lauderdale took them on the condition they were not to be used for research or hunting. He sold them across the country--N.Carolina, Missouri, Texas...a feline trail of tears. Nine died in transit, and the ones in Texas ended up on an exotic shooting preserve.

Florida legislators failed to provide a measley $11,000 needed to transport the abused, unfortunate survivors back to the Sunshine State. It remains as one of the cruelest, meanest stories of human ignorance, greed and arrogance on record in a staate where such stories are commonplace

The remaining live cats were retrieved with private help and are now living at White Oak Plantation in Florida.

There has been spectacular inaction since then, and the clock is ticking on the remnant panther population in the Everglades.

"We have to have two or three other populations of 100 to 150 cats each. It will have to be a controlled population, but it would be nice to have the first one in the Big Bend (Florida's "armpit" on the Gulf) or in the Osceola National Forest or Okeefenokee in south Georgia. We have immense support in polls--85 percent of the people support reintroduction. Even in this area where I live where we had a problem, 77 percent of the people wanted the animal reintroduced.

"We need people to talk to government. We are at that point where they (biologists) know what to do, but they are going to be politically correct in doing it. They need the will of the people of Florida to move them. A single politician can get a single phone call from an irate person with no information and put a grinding halt to the entire program. Two or three politicians can make it difficult for the game and fish commission to do its job.

"Now is the time to bear the fruit. If that cat is going to make it other than in pens, we have to get busy making arrangements with land owners and government agencies. Habitat is the key. We can't save the panther simply on government land. Personal safety is not a significant issue. There has never been a documented account of this cat ever attacking a human. In the last 104 years, no human has ever been attacked by a wild panther in Florida," concluded Williams.

Panther related web addresses for you to check out:

1. Florida Panther Society

2. Twilight of the Panther

3. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service SE Region Endangered Species

4. Meet the Florida Panther (Environmental Defense Fund)

5. Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge

6. U.S. Fish &Wildlife Service Recovery Plan

7. Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission

8. Washington Post article on panther myths

9. The Zoe Foundation (big cat preservation, links)

10. Defenders of Wildlife Florida Panther Page

11. Panther Growl (sound file)

Newsgroups:

talk.politics.animals

rec.animals wildlife

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Published by Digital Voodoo