Saturday July 4, 2009, 11:19 pm
wow... that's a lot hit by cars... :( Thanks Raffi!

Saturday July 4, 2009, 11:20 pm

Conspiracy To Eradicate The Florida Panther
This is fanciful, maybe. Extreme and ridiculous possibly, but could there be a conspiracy to eradicate the Florida panther to make way for that holy grail of business profit, property development?

The Florida panther AKA Florida cougar or just plain old mountain lion (as it is not a sub species) stands firmly in the path of economic progress and has done so throughout its entire existence. And there is circumstantial evidence that supports the supposition that there is a conspiracy to eradicate the Florida panther.

Take the recent killing of a young breeding female, for instance. The story was released in about 11th June 2009 but the shooting took place in April 2009. The female was about to breed precious new cougars. There are less than one hundred so each one counts and this one loss represents 2% of all Florida panther females. The police seem to be taking it seriously but have made little progress. The shooting happened in Hendry County, very close to the Big Cypress National Preserve –see below:

The Florida panther is Florida’s official state animal and shooting it has been illegal since 1958. Despite that people still shoot it (8 have been shot, 6 fatally). But there have been only two prosecutions and of those two the most severe sentence was probation!

As development pressure grows the pressure to get rid of the cougar grows too. There is circumstantial evidence that points to the fact that this latest killing may be a “contract killing”. Circumstantial evidence of the hidden war against the cougar is:

1. the massively flawed reports on conservation that were produced over a long period of time and which skewed decisions by the authorities to allow development on cougar habitat
2. the appointment, recently, of Sam Hamilton as the head of the South-eastern Region of the FWS. He has a relatively poor track record of enforcing the Endangered Species Act 1973 and seems to make decisions that favour commercial development
3. a large percentage of scientists at the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) claimed to be pressured into modifying reports to favour business development.
4. the continued development of protected habitat in Florida (see more on the above here: Florida Panther)
5. in respect of this last shooting the cat did not wear a radio collar so tracking the last steps is impossible (comment: with under 1oo to care for I would have thought each one would wear a collar or was it wearing one and was it was removed?)
6. wildlife officials (managed ultimately by Sam Hamilton, the head) won’t release any details – I thought they are a public body serving the public under which transparency would or should be obligatory.

If it is not the bullet it is the car – see chart above (src: Tampabay.com). Probably the biggest threat is traffic, which has expanded significantly with rampant road building. Lets not forget that Florida is one of the most desirable places to live on the planet. And we know people cannot live in harmony with the mountain lion. One has to move and it won’t be the cat! I allege that there could be a conspiracy to eradicate the Florida panther that is behind this latest shooting.

Sunday July 5, 2009, 1:23 am
I wouldn't be surprised if there was a conspiracy. I have very little use for property developers or San Hamilton.

Sunday July 5, 2009, 12:10 pm
Why is it ALWAYS about money vs. animals? The longer I live, the more I feel that the two cannot coexist. We are so greedy--why can't we just be content with food, clothing, and shelter, no matter how humber it is?

Sunday July 5, 2009, 6:30 pm
Urban sprawling has got to stop in order to perserve all wildlife and its habitats! sadly noted

Sunday July 5, 2009, 10:06 pm
This commentary was just updated-this scandal erupted over the Florida panther -due to manipulated data in favor of development...is this part 2 of this saga-it happened once. Andy Eller stood up for the panther and the truth. What happens now? Are they back to finish what they couldn't finish before?

http://www.care2.com/news/member/160802723/1185844

Distorting Scientific Knowledge on Florida Panthers

According to a senior biologist at the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), agency officials knowingly used flawed science in the agency's assessment of the endangered Florida panther’s habitat and viability in order to facilitate proposed real estate development in southwest Florida.1

Andrew Eller, Jr., a biologist who worked at the FWS for 18 years, charged that agency officials knowingly inflated data about panther population viability, and minimized assessments of the panthers’ habitat needs.2 The FWS used the flawed data as a basis for several documents, including its Multi-species Recovery Plan3 and at least 19 biological opinions, which were used to approve development applications. The Army Corps of Engineers used the same pattern of errors in its Southwest Florida Environmental Impact Statement. Over the past decade, FWS has approved permits for development on tens of thousands of acres of panther habitat.4

Under the George W. Bush administration, Eller felt officials were unwilling to correct inaccurate science that underlies habitat assessment practices. In frustration over the situation, Eller filed a legal complaint against the government with the help of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Eller, who worked for over a decade in Florida's Panther Recovery Program, stated, “I could no longer tolerate the scientific charade in which U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials are trying to pretend that the Florida panther is not in jeopardy.”5

Among the charges in Eller’s complaint was the allegation that FWS assessments inflated estimates of Florida panther populations by erroneously assuming that all known panthers are breeding adults. This analysis discounted juvenile, aged, and ill animals.

In addition, Eller charged, the FWS knowingly minimized assessments of the panther's habitat needs by equating daytime habitat use patterns (when the panther is at rest) with nighttime habitat use patterns (when the panther is most active).6 The FWS also employed a controversial model developed by Dr. David Maehr, known as “panther habitat evaluation model” or PHEM, which posited that panthers inhabited only large tracts of unbroken forest.7 Any other land, such as wetland or smaller pieces of forested land, was deemed not to be essential panther habitat—and was therefore open to development.

The serious errors in the science used to guide agency actions were identified by members of a scientific advisory subteam that was organized by the FWS in 1999 to help develop a habitat conservation strategy for the panther. Although Maehr was a member of the FWS subteam, several others members published research showing that Florida panthers range through a mosaic of habitats, and critiqued the biased data samples and other inaccuracies in the PHEM model. In 2002, the FWS issued a Landscape Conservation Strategy based on the subteam's work, but the report included contradictory information, since it did not repudiate the PHEM model.8

In the context of this disagreement, FWS then convened (in conjunction with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission) an independent four-member Scientific Review Team (SRT) to evaluate panther habitat needs. This team, led by conservation biologist Paul Beier, issued a report in 2003 that criticized the PHEM model and the use of flawed science by the agency, and urged that the flaws be corrected.9

Jane Comiskey, a researcher at the University of Tennessee and one of eight outside experts on the subteam, expressed concern that FWS did not allow the subteam to incorporate comments from the SRT and other peer-reviewers that would resolve contradictions in the Draft Landscape Conservation Strategy. “We were convened to deliver a peer-reviewed document to FWS, and until we are allowed to incorporate review comments,” Comiskey contended in 2004, “we will not have done the job we were called upon to do by the federal government.”10

Meanwhile, the FWS knowingly continued to disseminate the inaccurate information. As stated in Eller’s legal complaint, “The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s policy contends that no development project in southwest Florida constitutes jeopardy for the panther; the agency is simply relying on science that they know has been discredited.”11

As Comiskey noted, “An agency charged with using the best available science to protect panthers should not object to correcting known errors. Panther recovery is a well-funded program with a world-class capture team, dedicated field biologists, a wealth of accumulated data, and strong public support. There’s no reason not to get the science right. There are legitimate interests that conflict with those of panthers, but policy channels are provided to resolve those conflicts, outside the context of science.”12

In November 2004, days after the presidential election, Andrew Eller was fired from the FWS. However, in March 2005 Eller’s legal complaint was upheld, and the FWS publicly conceded that it had indeed been using flawed science. Environmental News Service reported that the FWS “accepted the recommendation of a panel of senior Interior Department officials that found the agency did not move quickly enough to correct scientific information related to Florida panthers and disseminated uncorrected documents.”13 The outgoing head of FWS wrote a letter to Jeff Ruch, Executive Director of PEER, promising that FWS would update the panther sections of its Multi-species Recovery Plan and stop disseminating the Draft Landscape Conservation Strategy.14

Andrew Eller was reinstated to his job at the FWS in June 2005.15 A few months later the FWS published a revised species recovery plan that presented a new model of panther habitat, based this time on accurate science.16

Monday July 6, 2009, 12:20 am
I have been watching the killing of wolves, polar bears, coyotes, bears, whales, sharks, several dog species including the most recent attack on pitbulls etc., all considered dangerous animals both here and in other countries for some time now. If there is a conspiracy it sure would make sense and would be obvious that it is for oil, resources, development and the insurance of no risk to those implementing such.
It is a worldwide epidemic!

Monday July 6, 2009, 5:26 pm
HARDLY ANY LEFT THANK YOU FOR THIS

Tuesday July 7, 2009, 12:42 am
Some people are so selfish, they think only about their own wellfare, money and living the good life, and everything that threatens their 'concrete' expansion and development has to go... nature, wildlife, endangered species... they don't care. They live now, and who cares for the future, the concequence of their actions is not afflicting their lifestyle so why bother... THIS IS THE KIND OF CONSPIRACY THAT KILLS ALL OF NATURES BEAUTY : APATHY !

Tuesday July 7, 2009, 11:46 pm
"Michael of Pictures of Cats org has allowed this article to be published here under a creative commons license".
My friends-due to a great upheaval in my life-Michael and I did not work this out before but we have since. His blogger site is a thing of beauty and wise introspection.

If things had gone more smoothly it would not have gone this way but it is alright now. In the future I will not be so impulsive.

Thursday July 16, 2009, 4:23 am
Of course vile people want cougars dead. Coming from a state with none left this makes me see red. What is it about a silent animal that RUNS away that angers people? Healthy cougars pose no threat to man. There'd be zero attacks if we stopped raping the land and taking away prime cougar spots. That the Bwana fantasy is still alive makes me want to roar. Great article, thanks for caring for cougars! :)