Endangered Florida panther shot in Georgia
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Florida panther. Photo: US GOVPosted by: birdpondThis work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work …
In Troup County, Georgia, in 2008, a hunter was waiting in his tree stand for deer when he spotted and shot an animal he'd never seen in that area before: a cougar.
He reported his kill to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, after which the body of the big cat was brought to the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study in Athens, Georgia, for necropsy.
High-tech CSI-type genetic testing by the National Cancer Institute, Laboratory of Genomic Diversity, revealed that the young, healthy mature male was a resident member of the south Florida remnant population of critically endangered Florida panthers, although it isn't clear if he was an escaped zoo animal or pet, or travelled to Georgia on his own.
According to a news release today from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources , because Florida panthers had not been documented in Georgia in years, it was initially thought that this animal might have escaped or have been intentionally released from captivity. With the genetic confirmation that the animal is indeed a Florida panther, it's possible this animal could have traveled all the way from south Florida to Georgia.
"We have had evidence (road kill) of Florida panthers as far north as the Florida panhandle," said Tim Breault, Director of Division of Habitat and Species Conservation, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "Young males, in an attempt to develop their own territory, will often wander far from their home range. We think this may have been the case in this situation."
The healthy male shot by the hunter in 2008 was evidently roaming northward in search of his own territory, which raises questions about other Florida panthers that might be leaving their usual range to find better habitat by moving north.
"Finding a Florida panther that far from southwest Florida is out of the ordinary, but male panthers, particularly younger ones, can travel great distances," said Paul Souza, Field Supervisor of the South Florida Ecological Services Office. "While it's unusual for panthers to be seen that far north, it is not impossible for a young male to travel so far."
The critically endangered Florida panther is the last subspecies of mountain lion still surviving in the SE United States. With only about 100 left, it means every loss is a step closer to extinction. Just this morning (August 5, 2009) a semi accidentally hit one on a highway in Collier County Florida.
The Florida panther is a magnificent animal. A mature male can reach 6 feet in length and weigh 130 pounds, preying on white-tailed deer, wild (feral) hogs, armadillos, birds and small mammals like raccoons. While they may occasionally take an outdoor pet, this shy cat generally avoids humans.
If ever an animal was blessed with a plethora of names, it is Puma concolor. Also known as mountain lion, puma, cougar, panther, catamount and painter, this big cat used to range all across the US. It's also supposedly the only ‘big cat' that purrs (tigers for instance ‘chuff' rather than purr.).
The Official State Animal of the Sunshine State, Florida panthers need our help. They have suffered a tremendous reduction in numbers as the human population in American, and particularly south Florida has mushroomed. They are now reduced to less than 5% of their historic range.
Because of their small population, the Florida panther is struggling to overcome the effects of inbreeding. Beyond that, other threats are habitat destruction and fragmentation, collisions with vehicles, mercury poisoning, and parasites/diseases from domestic cats and dogs.
The loss of even one Florida panther to a careless hunter is disturbing. So far the shooter hasn't been charged, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Office of Law Enforcement is investigating this incident since the Florida panther is a federally protected endangered species.
Click here for more information on the Florida panther.
Thank you to Melissa Cummings of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources for this breaking news report.
http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/3850629-endangered-florida-panther-shot-in-georgia
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Whether you want to believe it or not, cougars or panthers (what ever you want to call them, they are yellow big wild cats) have been in Georgia for a long time. We have had 3 sitings in my family alone in Coweta County Georgia. Two of the sitings was in the same area by I and my mother. My father a different year later and a different part of the county saw one. The day my mom saw it, it was too close for comfort. She was walking to her back door and as she got to the door she looked up to where she normally has her two Dachshund chained up and there was that big cat staring at my mother. She unlocked her door and jumped into the house as quick as she could and shut the door behind her. I have heard a hunter at a store say he saw one and my father had a friend years ago at work say he saw one. We also went camping with our home schooled children in Butts County some years ago. We wanted to camp just as the other children were getting back to school when there were no other children around for the peace. We and another older couple were the only ones in a park. The couple were on a different road and in a camper. We were in a tent. I cooked fish and told my husband to take the left over fish to the dumpster down the street to get the sent out of camp and I would wash the food sent off the children while he did, letting him know we have bear and reminding him of a boy who got attacked in his tent because of hotdog sent. Well, that night our baby started to cry and I comforted her and got her back to sleep, then dogs in the distant from there backyards, in a near by resident area, started barking at something and was very upset. 10 to 15 minutes later our dog ( a sheltie) got up in the tent and started to pace and growl. My husband told him to shut up and Branson laid back down. Next thing you we know we had a large courage sound screeching at us in the dark without moonlight, I am guessing 20 yard from us. He kept screeching in that courage call (which they have different calls but we have heard them on nature shows) and circling us because each time it changed directions. We were terrified. All the sudden I screamed out for this cat to flee in the name of Jesus, we belong to Him! All the sudden the screeches stopped. Then we decided to spend the rest of the night in the SUV. Soon after we got in the SUV a couple of deer ran past our vehicle from the direction of the last courage screech. We broke camp the next day and told the rangers and they laughed at us and tried to say it was a feral cat and we just laughed back! I let them know we know the difference between a wild cat and I know a bobtail cat sound because we had one that frequented our horse pasture. This was a big courage like sound. When the first screech happened my sheltie knew he was no match for what it was and hid behind me burring his head in my back. When we got home, we double checked on the internet for courage sounds. One of them sounded exactly what we heard. Immediately Branson the sheltie ran for cover underneath a chair in our house when he heard it. So even our dog recognized it for what it was. Butts County is Just east of Coweta where we know there have been several sitings, even in my family. I think it is exciting and so was the camping experience that we can have a laugh about. I found out that my husband did not take the fish plates down the street like I asked him and thinking back, I think Sabrina crying may have brought the big cat closer to us. I hope now, my husband will listen to me on a few things at least. Thank Jesus he protected us. Jesus’ Servant