Death of UCFP156

Onorato, Dave [mailto:Dave.Onorato@MyFWC.com]
Sent: Monday, February 28, 2011 12:16 PM
Subject: Death of UCFP156

All:

This report, required by Section 2(d) of the Endangered Species Cooperative Agreement between the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), is to provide you details regarding the death and handling of a Florida panther. 

The remains of an approximately 3-4 year old uncollared male panther, UCFP156, were collected on 26 February 2011 in the median of I75 near MM114 in Collier County. The cause of death was trauma associated with a vehicle collision. The carcass is being transported to the FWC Wildlife Research Lab in Gainesville for a complete necropsy.  The remains will be archived at the FL Museum of Natural History. This is the 7^th panther mortality for 2011 and the 4^th road mortality.

This information is being provided as required by Section 2(d) of the Endangered Species Cooperative Agreement between the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).  It is not intended as a News Release.  All information should be considered “pending” until all necropsy results and tests are finalized.

Date	Panther ID	Sex	Age	Location	Cause	Type	Year	NAD83E	NAD83N
1/5/2011	FP141	M	8.5	Private property, Hendry County	Unknown	DEATH	2011	493576	2917771
1/7/2011	K284	M	1.5	SR29 south of Sears Rd., Hendry County	Vehicle	DEATH	2011	456583	2946741
1/13/2011	UCFP152	F	3	MM98 on I75 Eastbound, Collier County	Vehicle	DEATH	2011	436807	2892929
1/21/2011	UCFP153	M	8 months	MM98 on I75 Westbound, Collier County	Vehicle	DEATH	2011	436221	2892997
1/21/2011	UCFP154	M	10-11 months	Orange grove north of Sears Rd, Hendry County	ISA	DEATH	2011	464311	2949370
	UCFP155			Under investigation
2/26/2011	UCFP156	M	3-4	I-75 near MM114, Collier County	Vehicle	DEATH	2011	425712	2910414

Dave Onorato- Associate Research Scientist

Florida Panther Project

Fish and Wildlife Research Institute

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Florida Panther Petition: Please sign :)

http://animals.change.org/actions/view/stop_the_killing_of_the_florida_panther

IF it takes you to the main page just put in "STOP THE KILLING OF THE FLORIDA PANTHER!" in the search box and it will show a pic link, click on it and you'll be at the petition! Pls. we need sigs, 3 have died in 2 weeks!

Reintroduction of Endangered Florida Panthers to Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge Needed for Recovery

From: Center for Biological Diversity
Published February 11, 2011

FAYETTEVILLE, Ga.— Conservation groups filed a scientific petition Thursday seeking the reintroduction of the critically endangered Florida panther into southern Georgia and northern Florida as a crucial step in the species’ recovery. The petition requests that the Interior Department issue a rule authorizing the release of panthers in and around the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, an area unoccupied by Florida panthers but part of their historic range. Reintroduction of Florida panthers into suitable habitat within the species’ historic range is called for in the Interior Department’s 2008 Florida panther recovery plan.


“For the Florida panther to have any chance at long-term survival it needs more than one population in South Florida,” said Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity, the primary author of the petition. “Reintroduction of Florida panthers will aid their recovery and help restore the natural balance in some of the ecosystems in which panthers lived for thousands of years.”


Florida panthers used to live throughout the Southeast, but currently the only breeding population consists of 100 to 120 animals in South Florida that are distributed across less than 5 percent of the species’ historic range. The recovery plan calls for protecting remaining occupied habitat and establishing two new populations of at least 240 animals each through reintroduction.


Scientists have identified the Greater Okefenokee Ecosystem in South Georgia and North Florida as the best habitat for a reintroduction of Florida panthers, with an abundance of deer and feral hogs for prey, and a top prospect for reintroduction. Panthers would aid regeneration of the region’s much-diminished longleaf pine forests through preying on feral hogs that eat the longleaf pine saplings and seed cones.


“The panther was once shepherd to the vast reaches of the vanishing longleaf pine ecosystem,” said Christopher Spatz, president of the Cougar Rewilding Foundation. “May this day mark the beginning of the recovery of the forest by restoring its ancient guardian."


“Science, both biological and social, clearly indicates that recovery can be achieved,” said Stephen Williams, president of The Florida Panther Society, Inc. “The long-sought resolution to the future of the Florida panther is in its reintroduction and the recovery that will follow. We applaud all efforts by interested parties who care about the panther and the southeastern U.S. The American people have been unwavering in support of recovery of Puma concolor coryi for over 43 years. We ask the Department of the Interior, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and all state and federal authorities to move resolutely forward to fulfill their obligation.”


One More Generation of Fayetteville, Georgia, was founded by two elementary-age students, Carter Ries (now nine) and his sister Olivia (age eight). “Our network of children wishes to ensure that all endangered species survive at least one more generation and beyond,” said Jim Ries, father of Carter and Olivia. “To grant them that simple, unstinting wish, we believe Georgians can learn to safely share the wildest corners of our state with Florida panthers.”





Contact Info: Michael Robinson, Center for Biological Diversity, (575) 534-0360
Christopher Spatz, Cougar Rewilding Foundation, (845) 658-9889
Stephen L. Williams, The Florida Panther Society, Inc., (386) 397-2945

Please voice support today for State and Tribal Wildlife Grants Program

ACTION_ALERT.pdf    I18N YGP.SaveAll I18N YGP.SaveProgress I18N YGP.ViewAfterSave

Subject: Please voice support today for State and Tribal Wildlife Grants Program
Importance: High

PLEASE FORWARD!

Greetings,

We are sending this call for help to our Florida lists of endangered species activists – the Florida Endangered Species Network, panther advocates, sea turtle advocates, and more –  in hopes that you will each contact your congressional representative today or tomorrow letting them know you want the State and Tribal Wildlife Grants Program to be funded rather than be eliminated by HR1, the budget Continuing Resolution.

The State Grants program provides essential funding for non-regulatory conservation action to protect imperiled species and their habitat. 

Please see the message below and the attached fact sheet for more information in order to make a quick call to your representative’s office and an example email you could use in composing your own.  The contact information for your representative can be found in the attachment or at www.house.gov.  If you have time to let us know you took action we would appreciate hearing from you.

If you would like more information please give me a call, Laurie Macdonald,  727-823-3888, lmacdonald@defenders.org as Defenders works closely with this important program both here in the state and at the national level, and urges you to voice your support.

FESN: Florida Forever Day

FFDayFlyer.pdf    I18N YGP.SaveAll I18N YGP.SaveProgress

Subject: Florida Forever Day

Greetings all,
Please see attached a flyer for Florida Forever Day on March 8, 2011.  We need your help getting out the word on this important event.  Please circulate this information widely and help us generate a great crowd!  This year we will have tabling by more than 20 organizations, guest speakers, a beautiful exhibit of LINC Florida Forever photographs, lunch, and live music!  This is the first day of the 2011 legislative session and a great opportunity to make sure Florida Forever is in the spotlight.  Please let me know if you need any additional information, and see you on March 8th!
-Holly Please consider the environment before printing this email

---

Holly Parker Davenport Government Relations Associate

2011 February Florida Panther Update

Panther Advocates,

Enjoy the February 2011 Florida Panther Update  

Update_0211_Final.pdf    I18N YGP.SaveAll I18N YGP.SaveProgress

From: Roxann Hanson [mailto:roxhanson@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, February 11, 2011 6:31 PM
To: Roxann Hanson
Subject: 2011 February Florida Panther Update

Hello!

Please find attached your copy of the 2011 February Florida Panther Update. 

We apologize for the gap in time since the last version was published in May of 2010.  As always, we ask that you please actively participate in this outreach effort by forwarding the newsletter to interested friends and colleagues and/or posting it to your agency’s website.  Also, feel free to publicly post or distribute printed copies of the Update. 

Anyone not on this direct mailing list who would like to receive these notices may do so through the email address listed below. 

Enjoy the February Panther Update and thank you for your interest and support!

Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge

c/o US Fish and Wildlife Service

Firefighters conduct controlled burn in 5,000 acres of Big Cypress

Panther Advocates, FYI

Public lands management actions to benefit panthers and other species.

Elizabeth

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2011/feb/03/firefighters-controlled-burn-big-cypress/

       

Firefighters conduct controlled burn in 5,000 acres of Big Cypress

By DAVID ALBERS

Naples Daily News

February 3, 2011 .

Wildland firefighters from the Big Cypress National Preserve, the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge and Everglades National Park have spent three days conducting a controlled burn of roughly 5,000 of the 720,000 acres of the Big Cypress National Preserve in Eastern Collier County.

The recent winter weather with low afternoon humidity provided a window of opportunity for the firefighters for the project before the peak of Florida's wildfire season.

The prescribed burns replicate the natural process that wildfire plays in the area's ecosystem. Without the prescribed burns in the Everglades, underbrush becomes unnaturally thick, creating conditions that can cause unnaturally hot and chaotic wildfires that damage the environment and threaten man-made structures.

Photo by DAVID ALBERS // Buy this photo

Assistant engine captain Justin Phippen lights a controlled burn on Thursday afternoon along Turner River Road in the Big Cypress National Preserve in Eastern Collier County. In three days of the prescribed burning, the team of wildland firefighters has burned roughly 5,000 of the 720,000 acres of the preserve. The project is part of an ongoing effort to replicate the natural process that wildfire plays in the area's ecosystem. David Albers/Staff

Prescribed burning in the Big Cypress National Preserve