Proceedings of the fifth mountain lion workshop: 27

14 PROCEEDINGS OF THE FIFTH MOUNTAIN LION WORKSHOP
STATUS OF THE MOUNTAIN LION IN FLORIDA: 1996
Robert C. Belden, Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission, Wildlife Research Laboratory, 4005 S. Main St.,
Gainesville, FL 32601
Tom H. Logan, Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission, Farris Bryant Building, 620 S. Meridian Street, Tallahassee,
FL 32399
Key words: Panther, Mountain Lion, Puma concolor coryi, Florida, Status
The mountain lion, more commonly referred to in
Florida as the panther (Puma concolor coryi), was first
protected by the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish
Commission (FGFWFC) in 1950 by listing it as a game
animal. This restricted the taking of it to a special hunting
season and halted indiscriminate killing as a "nuisance
species". The panther was given complete legal protection in
1958 and attained federal listing as an endangered subspecies
on March 11, 1967.
A Florida Panther Recovery Team was formed in
July 1976 to develop a recovery plan for the animal, and, in
October 1976, FGFWFC began a study to determine if and
where there might be a population of panthers that could be
managed to prevent their extinction. A population was
documented in the Big Cypress region in 1978.
FGFWFC then initiated a study in 1981 using radiotelemetry
to determine habitat requirements and other life
history information valuable to protection efforts. The
following year the panther was declared Florida's official state
animal, voted so by the school children of the state. The first
Florida Panther Recovery Plan was approved by the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service in 1982 and was revised and updated in
1987. The Florida Panther Interagency Committee was
established in May 1986 to provide a coordinated recovery
effort for the Florida panther. This committee is composed of
the Southeast Regional Directors of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service and the National Park Service, the Executive Director
of the FGFWFC, and the Secretary of the Florida Department
of Environmental Protection. The Committee provides the
overall guidance and direction for the Florida panther
recovery program.
POPULATION STATUS
The only documented breeding population of Florida
panthers occurs in southern Florida from Lake Okeechobee
southward, primarily in the Big Cypress and Everglades
physiographic regions (Figure 1). The current estimate is that
there are 30-50 animals in a range of 4,000+ mi 2 in this
population: hence, the panther may be teetering on the brink
of extinction. Computer analysis using information compiled
at a Florida Panther Population Viability Analysis Workshop
in February 1989 indicated that, without intervention, the
Florida panther population had a high probability of becoming
extinct in 25 to 40 years.
The Florida panther faces the threat of extinction on
3 fronts. First, there is continual loss of panther habitat
through human development. This continuing decline in
available habitat reduces the carrying capacity and, therefore,
the numbers of panthers that can survive. Second, genetic
variation is probably decaying at a rate that is causing
inbreeding depression (reduction of viability and fecundity of
offspring of breeding pairs that are closely related genetically)
and precluding continued adaptive evolution (Seal and Lacy
1989). Third, panther numbers may already be so low that
random fluctuations could lead to extinction.
MANAGEMENT AND RESEARCH
Protection of remaining habitat (Logan et al. 1994),
genetic restoration (Johnson et al. 1995, Seal 1994) and an
evaluation of the feasibility of reestablishing additional
Florida panther populations (Belden and Hagedorn 1993,
Belden and McCown 1996) are ongoing projects.
The Florida Panther Interagency Committee formed
a Habitat Preservation Working Group in 1991 to develop a
comprehensive plan for habitat preservation. The Florida
Panther Habitat Preservation Plan (Logan et al. 1994)
identifies occupied and potential panther habitat, threats to
these habitats, and the options available to maintain sufficient
habitat for a self-sustaining population of panthers in southern
Florida. Approximately 53% of occupied panther range
occurs on private lands. Through efforts of the FGFWFC and
American Farmland Trust, a Landowner Working Group was
formed in February 1994. This group allowed private
landowners in southern Florida to outline incentives which
could be used to carry out panther habitat
protection on private lands.
A workshop was convened in September 1994 by the
Conservation Breeding Specialist Group of the SSC/IUCN at
the request of FGFWFC to assist in the formulation of a plan
for the genetic restoration and management of the Florida
panther population. "A Plan for Genetic Restoration and