Defenders of Wildlife Blog

The Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area was created today.

BREAKING: Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced the creation of the Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area in Florida today.

The refuge aims to conserve the Everglades’ headwaters and fish and wildlife and to preserve the community’s ranching heritage.

“The creation of the Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area is not only critical for restoring imperiled wildlife, like Florida panthers and whooping cranes that depend on the region, but also for preserving a way of life for the ranchers who have made their living off the land for decades,” said Jamie Rappaport Clark, president and CEO of Defenders of Wildlife.

The agency envisions expanding the small refuge to one day span some 150,000 acres north of Lake Okeechobee in south Florida, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service’s website.

Florida panther, courtesy George Gentry, USFWS

The majority of it will be protected through conservation easements purchased from private landowners, who would retain ownership of the land, as well as the right to raise cattle or crops, according to the Interior Department’s news release.

But the easements would protect the land from development, officials said.

“This endeavor is the perfect example of the payoff when diverse shareholders come together with a common conservation goal, and sets the stage for future collaboration to preserve Florida’s natural assets,” Clark said.

New technology was unveiled yesterday with hopes of decreasing the number of Florida panthers killed while crossing the state’s fast-moving highways. The Florida Department of Transportation announced the completed installation of a Remote Animal Detection System (RADS) along a deadly stretch of US-41 in the state’s Big Cypress National Preserve near Turner River.

Big Cypress National Preserve is a stronghold for the Florida panther. But the roads that cross the preserve also make it a very dangerous place for the endangered cats, and the Turner River area is especially deadly for breeding females and their kittens. The RADS system uses solar powered sensors to detect when large animals, like panthers, are close to the road. The system then advises drivers to slow down with bright, flashing LED lights on six warning signs placed along the road.

Although the RADS system has been used in western states, primarily for larger mammals such as elk, this is the first time the tool is being used as a way to save panthers. The system will be monitored to determine whether it is effective in detecting big cats and can be used in other parts of the state.

Defenders of Wildlife partnered with the US Fish & Wildlife Service to obtain grant funding for this job. We will continue to work for long-term solutions,  such as increased awareness and law enforcement in the panther zones, to make this deadly stretch of road safer for wildlife and people.

Learn more:

See other ways we’re working to help the panther population rebound in the Sunshine State.

By Glen Gardner, Public News Service

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A new study in Florida is aimed at helping determine the best ways for cattle and panthers to coexist.

The endangered Florida panther has made an amazing comeback. Once only 20 remained, but now the population is estimated at 100 to 160. However, finding a place for all those panthers to live without conflict is getting more difficult.

Last year, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission began receiving reports of the cats preying on calves, beyond their natural prey of deer, wild hogs and other native game. The University of Florida, with support from Defenders of Wildlife, is studying the situation in an effort to find solutions.

Caitlin Jacobs, a graduate student and researcher at the university, says radio tags on calves and motion-detecting cameras are being employed to help get answers.

“We have them placed around the study areas to try and capture pictures of panthers – for one, to show how much panther activity there is on these ranches.”

The two-year study is focusing on two ranches in southwest Florida where the goal is to determine the extent to which predators, in particular the Florida panther, are responsible for calf mortality.

The research, Jacobs says, should answer a number of questions about how the calves are dying and about how many panthers may have developed a taste for calves.

“Is there one cat that has learned that calves are easy prey?”

A Florida panther caught on one of the 15 trail cameras donated by Defenders to assist with the research on two ranches. Paw prints were found at the site the next day.

Liesa Priddy, owner of J-B Ranch in Immokalee and one of the ranchers participating in the study, says having good information is key to coming up with a plan to balance the panthers’ habitat needs with ranchers’ concerns.

“Only with that solid information, having everybody on board in agreement with what the problem is, are you going to be able to address it and come up with a solution.”

Twenty-four panthers died in 2011, which is tied as the most deadly year with 2003 and 2009.

Learn more:

Click here to view this story on the Public News Service RSS site and access an audio version of this and other stories.

Already, 2012 has seen the death of one male panther, who was killed by a vehicle while crossing the road. Read about Defenders’ work to make roads safer for Florida panthers.

Adolescent male panther crossing CR 832/Keri Road. Photo © Robert Repenning.

Working in Defenders’ Florida office, panthers tend to be on my mind more often than not. But though I’ve worked over 7 years to help bring the big cat to recovery, I’ve never actually seen one in the wild. Until now.

This Tuesday, I was driving along the Four Sections road in Okaloacoochee Slough State Forest. Accompanied by wildlife ecologist and expert wildlife tracker Sue Morse and longtime Defenders supporter Barbara Long, we were coming to the close of a busy few days, having hosted a successful Big Cats of North America presentation and a weekend workshop to train Panther Citizen Assistance Taskforce volunteers to help Defenders respond to reports about panthers. We were driving in the area’s prime panther habitat. It was almost 5pm, the witching hour for animal activity. Lots of deer were out foraging and the three of us had our eyes peeled for movement along the side of the road.

Suddenly, a panther bounded in front of our car. Uncollared, the cat was a beautiful tawny color, probably a female or young male. It wasn’t moving very fast, but its three leaps across the road lasted only seconds— I barely had enough time to shout “Panther!” to my companions before it disappeared from sight. I was speechless, and without the two of them with me, I might have been convinced I made the whole thing up.

Our brief encounter with the cat couldn’t have been more timely. Before our welcome interruption, we’d been on our way to the Hendry County Board of County Commissioners meeting, where Commissioners were voting to designate 5.25 miles of CR 832/Keri Road as a slow speed nighttime panther zone.

Defenders' Elizabeth Fleming has been working to save FL panthers since 2004, when it was estimated that there were fewer than 100 big cats in the state.

Keri Road (pronounced kee-rye) is a rural east-west road that bisects the Okaloacoochee Slough State Forest. A documented danger zone for panthers and other wildlife, nine panthers are known to have been killed by vehicles on CR 832 since 1996, six of which within the state forest. While the road has a posted speed zone of 55 mph, many drivers exceed that speed. (In fact, when the Hendry County Engineering Department recorded vehicle speeds on the road in August 2011, they found that 85 percent of motorists drove 65-70 mph, despite the posted speed limit of 55 mph.) Securing a nighttime slow zone for the stretch of road is the first of many actions Defenders and a coalition of stakeholders (including local landowners, businesses and residents) have been working on in order to improve passage for panthers and other wildlife across this stretch of highway.

Our panther must have been a good omen, for that night, the Board voted to approve the slow speed zone! The designation will not only allow the state to enforce the speed limit in Okaloacoochee Slough on Keri Road, but it will help to increase awareness about fostering safe passage for panthers and other wildlife. Both steps are key to helping panthers throughout the state continue down the road to recovery, and ensuring my first panther sighting won’t be my last.

Learn more:

Only 100-160 Florida panthers remain in the wild.See how Defenders is working to protect them and the places they call home.

Support safe passage for panthers. See how Defenders is working to increase the number of wildlife crossings throughout the state to ensure both wildlife and people can use our roads safely.

At 1.5-year-old, you can still see the spots on FP194. Photo credit Karen Meeks.

This week saw the happy return of an orphaned Florida panther kitten to the wild. The release of the 1.5-year-old cat took place on Tuesday evening in Florida’s Big Cypress National Preserve, near the area he’d been discovered last year.

Watch the video footage of the kitten as he takes off into the Big Cypress National Preserve (footage provided by Ralph Arwood).

Background:

On October 25, 2010, through on-going tracking activity within the preserve, the radio-collar of female panther FP102 began emitting a mortality signal. Upon reaching the site of the signal, National Park Service biologists found the remains of the cat. A subsequent necropsy confirmed that she had died from wounds received during a fight. Five months earlier the cat had given birth to two male kittens. After the death of FP102, one of the offspring, was discovered. His sibling was never found.

Rescue efforts:

The National Park Service, working closely with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, transported the kitten, now called FP194, to the White Oak Conservation Center, a wildlife facility in northeastern Florida. At the facility, the cat was cared for and housed in appropriate facilities with minimal human contact.

Vet Natalie Hall from White Oak Conservation Center examines FP194. Photo credit Ralph Arwood.

At 86 pounds and in good condition, the National Park Service has high hopes for the cat. Fitted with a new tracking color, the agency will be able to monitor the movements of the cat as he adjusts back to life in the wild.

Learn more:

Only 100-160 Florida panthers remain in the wild. See how Defenders is working to protect them and the places they call home.

See how a proposal to create a new national wildlife refuge north of Lake Okeechobee could give a big boost to efforts to save the Florida panther. 

Want to hear more about the wild cats of North America? Join Defenders and wildlife tracking expert Sue Morse for a special presentation this Thursday, Dec. 8, in Estero, Florida. For more details, call Defenders at (727) 823-3888.

Heather's been known to travel just to get a certain bird photo.

Photographer Heather Green knows how frustrating it can be to wait for the perfect shot. But she also knows how rewarding it can be when opportunity finally comes along. Earlier this year, her patience paid off–big. After years of waiting, Heather happened upon a mother panther and two cubs in the Sunshine State’s Fakahatchee Strand Preserve, camera in hand. Defenders caught up with the Florida photog to talk cameras, conservation and capturing some of the state’s unique animals on film.

Defenders: How did you get into wildlife photography?

Heather Green: Originally I started doing equine photography (horse shows, rodeos, etc.) until we moved up to Clewiston, Florida. We bought a house on five acres and I couldn’t believe the amount of wildlife that was just in my own backyard. I started photographing the different birds, then I’d look them up online to identify them. I also started to view other wildlife photographers’ work on flickr.com. I opened my own account and began uploading my photos, eventually meeting several really wonderful people who gave me some tips on photographing wildlife. As my ‘addiction’ to wildlife photography grew, I knew I had to invest in a better camera and lens. A camera with more frames per second, and a lens with more of a zoom.

D: Where have you photographed?

HG: Right in the vicinity of my own area I love to visit Dinner Island Wildlife Management Area. There’s so many birds, wild hogs and deer out there that you could easily fill up a half day or full day just shooting there. I also enjoy the Okaloacoochee Slough, Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, Ding Darling (on Sanibel), and of course Fakahatchee Strand. I have been known to travel just to get a certain bird photo.

Last year Heather struck gold when she came upon three panthers playing in the road.

D: Was your run-with the panther your most memorable shot? What made it so special?

HG: Most definitely! For years I’ve obsessed over seeing a Florida panther. I’ve gotten up before sunrise to go scout out areas more times than I can count, walked trails looking for tracks, I’ve visited different areas at different times of the day where panthers have been spotted, hoping to catch a glimpse of one. One day I was checking out my contacts’ photos on flickr and saw a post by a friend who said he’d spotted a panther on Jane’s Scenic Drive around 12 o’clock in the afternoon the day before. Right away I thought, I need to get down there. My husband and I took a drive down there and to this day, I’m still shocked that we saw that family of three. When I go back and look at the photos I took that day, I still can’t believe it.

D: What’s the toughest part of your job? What do you do to overcome it?

HG: Having patience is probably the toughest part. Waiting on a bird to move into the position you want or waiting on it to move it’s head so that the sun catches it’s eye the right way. There is a lot of waiting involved but if you can wait it out, it pays off in the end.

Heather loves to photograph hawks and owls since they pose such a challenge in flight, but her favorite is the white tailed deer.

D: How do you think wildlife photography is important to conservation efforts?

HG: I think an amazing photo of a bird or animal in it’s natural (wild) environment catches everyone’s attention and it helps people to realize how beautiful and special these animals are and that they’re practically living in their own backyards here in Florida.

D: What advice do you have for aspiring wildlife photographers?

HG: You have to have patience, you have to do your research if you’re looking for a specific animal to photograph and find out where you need to go to get that photo. You should have a decent DSLR camera (that you know very well) and at least a 300mm zoom lens if you’re just starting out. You don’t need top of the line equipment, you just have to know YOUR equipment very well and you’ll be able to pull off some amazing shots.

Check out some of Heather’s work below and see more on her website, HeatherGreenPhoto.com.

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Eagle family, photo copyright Heather Green

Bobcat, photo copyright Heather Green

Doe, photo copyright Heather Green

Burrowing owl, photo copyright Heather Green

Wild hog, photo copyright Heather Green

Great horned owl, photo copyright Heather Green

Buck, photo copyright Heather Green

Panther cubs, photo copyright Heather Green