From Independent Publisher
South Florida is home to many endangered species; the Florida Panther is one of the best known. Yet, writes author David S. Maehr in this scientific book, many misconceptions abound about this carnivorous feline. Maehr, an assistant professor of conservation biology in the Department of Forestry at the University of Kentucky and a biologist in Naples, Florida, was leader of the Florida Panther Study Project for nine years. The panther, a subspecies of cougar, no longer lives primarily in Everglade National Park but in the Big Cypress National Preserve and around the Okaloacoochee Slough. Maehr calls this area panther eden. "Probably more kittens have been reared on this plot than on any other comparably sized area in Florida, perhaps in the United States." These felines are more solitary than many big cats; the adults have a home range of between 20 and 456 square miles; and they eat white-tailed deer and wild hogs. Maehr's aim is to make us better understand the species' status and to better protect its habitat. He adds, "Another reason we need the panther is for ourselves...because we share ancient roots in evolution and because they have been studied so long." He refutes other voices about the creature's future: "there is no need yet to write the panther's epitaph."

Book Description

When the first field study of the Florida panther took place in 1973, so little was known about the animal that many scientists believed it was already extinct. During more extensive research conducted from 1981 to 1986, panthers were proven to exist, but the handful of senile, anemic, and parasite-infested specimens that were captured indicated a grim future. During those early years a remarkably enduring image of the panther was born, and despite voluminous data gathered over the next decade that showed the panther to be healthy, long-lived, and reproducing, that earlier image has yet to be dispelled.

For nine years, biologist David S. Maehr served as project leader of the Florida Panther Study Project, helping to gather much of the later, surprisingly positive data. In The Florida Panther , he presents the first detailed portrait of the animal-its biology, natural history, and current status-and a realistic assessment of its prospects for survival.

Maehr also provides an intriguing look at the life and work of a field biologist: how captures are made, the intricacies of radio-telemetry tracking, the roles of various team members. He describes the devastating intrusion of politics into scientific work, as he discusses the widespread problems caused by the failure of remote and ill-informed managers to provide needed support and to communicate effectively to the public the goals and accomplishments of the scientists. He examines controversial efforts to establish a captive breeding program and to manipulate the Florida panther's genetic stock with the introduction of relatives from west Texas.

Protection of high-quality habitat, much of it in the hands of private landowners, is the key to the long-term survival of the Florida panther. Unless agency decision makers and the public are aware of the panther's true situation, little can be done to save it. This book will play a vital role in correcting widespread misconceptions about the panther's current condition and threats to its survival.