Defenders of Wildlife Blog

A rural road that bisects the Okaloacoochee Slough State Forest, Keri Road (pronounced kee-rye) is a documented danger zone for panthers and other wildlife. Nine panthers are known to have been killed by vehicles on CR 832, six of which were within the state forest. While the road has a posted speed limit of 55 mph, many drivers exceed that speed. 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 legal speed limit of 55 mph.

The new designation will not only allow the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and its law enforcement partners to warn drivers and enforce the speed limit in the state forest on Keri Road, but it will help to increase awareness about driving carefully on CR 832 and other rural roads.

Keri Road is a documented danger zone for panthers and other wildlife–nine panthers are known to have been killed by vehicles on CR 832, six of which were within the state forest.

Defenders’ Laurie Macdonald said, “For years, Keri Road has been a very dangerous roadway for panthers as well as for people. Now, thanks to the support of landowners, natural resource agencies and conservationists, Hendry County has taken an important first step toward improving passage for panthers and other wildlife across this stretch of highway. We are very hopeful that the reduced speed limit will raise awareness about the need to drive carefully and watch out for wildlife.”

Collisions with vehicles is one of the leading causes of death for Florida panthers. In 2009, 17 panthers—a record high—were killed while crossing roads, and in 2010, 16 panthers met a similar fate. For a species whose population is believed to be just 100-160 animals, even the loss of a single cat is significant.

Learn more:

Defenders’ Elizabeth Fleming caught sight of her first wild panther the same night the Keri Road slow zone was approved. Read about her firsthand encounter with one of the state’s iconic cats. 

Where does Florida’s state animal stand today? Read our Q&A with Laurie Macdonald to find out!

Check out the slideshow of Keri Road’s new slow zone below, courtesy of panther advocate and Defenders volunteer Eric Myer.

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.

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.

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.

 

Watch Out for Wildlife Awareness Week may be officially over, but the effort to make roads in America safer for wildlife and people is only ramping up. This year, tens of thousands of Americans contacted their governors to officially proclaim Watch Out for Wildlife Awareness Week in their states—and 25 governors across the country responded to the call!  This response reflects just how many of us have been affected by wildlife-vehicle collisions. In fact, of the nearly 1,200 responders to a recent Facebook poll, 90 percent have either been in an accident involving wildlife or know someone who has.

But while not all wildlife-vehicle collisions can be prevented, there are many things drivers can do to reduce their chances of hitting an animal. Here are some basics:

1. Drive slow and steady, and be alert to wildlife around you.
2. Keep it clean and clear. Keep your windshield and headlights clean. Dim your interior dash lights and keep your dashboard clear of objects that will obstruct your view or cause a glare on the inside of your windshield and reduce visibility.
3. Don’t litter. Even if that apple core IS biodegradable, it is also a tasty treat for a wild animal who will be attracted to the roadside where they are more likely to be hit.
4. Don’t rely on deer whistles.  We always have people suggest using deer whistles and swear by them. Unfortunately, no studies show they work.
5. Speak up! If you drive through a roadkill zone where you frequently see several dead animals, write to your transportation agency and express your concerns. Ask what they are doing to reduce the impacts of roads on wildlife.

Defenders is committed to making our roads safer for wildlife and people. Whether building tunnels for endangered salamanders in Vermont to keeping moose away from cars in Alaska, we will continue to work to make sure wherever the destination, the journey is a safe one.

Learn more:

Read more about Defenders’ Habitats and Highways campaign, and what you can do to help prevent wildlife-vehicle collisions. 

For the past 11.5 years, I’ve been the director of Defenders’ Habitat and Highways program. Friends and family would tell you that I routinely brag about having the coolest job in the world and one of my favorite pastimes is talking to people about it. Sure, roadkill doesn’t make for the best dinner conversation, but it never ceases to amaze me how much people love to talk about it. When I tell people what I do, they always say the same two things:

1. “I always see so many dead (insert wildlife species here) when I’m driving along (insert their local highway here).”
2. “I hate seeing so much roadkill and wish there was something I could do about it.”

But now they can!  Across the country, citizen-based wildlife observation efforts are underway to minimize the number of wildlife-vehicle collisions. One project, I-90 Wildlife Watch, invites motorists to report wildlife sightings along Interstate 90 (I-90) in the Snoqualmie Pass region of Washington. Plans are in the works to widen the highway, which intersects the Cascade Mountains, a critical link in the north-south movement of wildlife. To ensure animals will still be able to move through the area, wildlife crossings will be built under and over the new, wider highway. And what better way to find out where to put those crossings than to ask the people who drive the road every day?

So I-90 Wildlife Watch asks motorists to report their wildlife sightings while traveling I-90 through Snoqualmie Pass. Participants can go to a website, click on “Report a Wildlife Sighting” and answer a few brief questions about what they saw and where. The information gathered from the citizen reports will help determine locations for more than a dozen wildlife crossings along the 15-mile stretch of highway.

Citizen Byron Langley has been submitting wildlife reports since May and now keeps a notepad with him to note relevant details when he can. “I saw this option to volunteer as an easy thing to do to help contribute to a better environment for traffic and animals,” Langley said. “It’s rewarding and fun and helps support the animals.”

Here are just a few more examples of citizens playing a key role in keeping our roads safe for people and wildlife:

California Roadkill Observation System
Colorado I-70 Wildlife Watch
Idaho Fish and Wildlife Information System
Maine’s Wildlife Road Watch
Linking Landscapes for Massachusetts Wildlife
Alberta, Canada’s Road Watch in Crowsnest Pass

Tell us your story:

Do you see wildlife on your daily commute?  What animals do you see and where?  Send your stories (and photos!) to Highways@defenders.org. Your story might be featured in Friday’s blog post!

WOW Week update:

This week, even more governors have officially proclaimed “Watch Out for Wildlife Awareness Week,” taking the number up to 25! Has your governor joined the effort to make our roads safer? Find out here. 

Although deer continue to be the number one victim of wildlife-vehicle collisions, accidents on the road impact a wide range of animals. In a 2007 study on wildlife-vehicle collisions, the Western Transportation Institute compiled a list of 21 federally listed threatened and endangered species in the United States for which direct road mortality is among the major threats to the survival. That list not only included mammals like the San Joaquin kit fox, Canada lynx and Florida panther, but even reptiles like the American crocodile and birds like the Florida scrub jay. Watch our video to see the full range of listed species.

Sadly, those are only the animals that are affected by direct collisions with vehicles. If the study had included other impacts of roads and associated development, such as habitat loss and fragmentation, that list would have been much, much longer.

Florida panther: Poster child for the road to extinction?

With only an estimated 100 to 160 remaining in the wild, Florida panthers are one of the most endangered mammals in the world. Meant to range over large areas in search of food and mates, these cats are forced to crisscross the Sunshine State’s dangerous highways all too often. As a result, collisions with vehicles take a terrible toll on panthers—16 were killed on Florida roads in 2010, and a record-breaking 17 in 2009.

Fortunately, progress is being made to protect these big cats. Next week, builders will break ground on a Remote Animal Detection System (RADS) in Florida’s Big Cypress National Preserve. The preserve is a stronghold for the Florida panther, with the Turner River area specifically providing prime panther habitat. But the roads that cross the preserve also make it a very dangerous place for the endangered cats, especially breeding females and their kittens. By detecting large animals like panthers on the Turner River area of US 41 and alerting drivers of their presence, the system is intended to cut down on the amount of cats killed on the road.

Defenders is hopeful that the RADS project will raise awareness about the need to drive carefully and watch out for wildlife in Big Cypress National Preserve. We will continue to work for long-term solutions to make this deadly stretch of road safer for wildlife and people, from increased awareness and law enforcement in the panther zone to exploring the possibility of safe passage under and over busy roads.