U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., continued his efforts on behalf of the Florida panther this week, urging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to continue to protect that animal.
Noting there are less than 250 Florida panthers left, Buchanan called on the federal government to continue its current efforts instead of removing them from the endangered species list.
Buchanan sent a letter to Greg Sheehan, the acting director of the FWS, on Wednesday on the matter.
“I am writing to express my strong concern over reports that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service may weaken protections for Florida panthers under the Endangered Species Act,” Buchanan wrote. “While it is heartening to see the Florida panther population increase to more than 200 in recent years, major hurdles remain to the full recovery of these majestic animals. That is why it is essential to maintain current federal protections to prevent one of the world's rarest cats from becoming extinct.
“Alarmingly, your agency's standard review comes less than a year after 32 panthers were struck and killed by vehicles on Florida roadways – the highest number of panther-involved accidents ever recorded,” Buchanan continued. “Such traffic fatalities have risen more than 65 percent since 2012, outpacing the number of documented panther births. These roadkills are in addition to other causes of death, including poaching and disease.
“Designated the state animal by Florida's schoolchildren, the panther was one of the original 14 mammals named to the endangered species list in 1967,” he added. “Despite this classification, a critical habitat has never been established for the Florida panther even though one is required by the Endangered Species Act. ‘Without a sufficient protected habitat, there is no viable recovery’ for the panther, according to the executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a national non-profit alliance consisting of scientists, law enforcement officers, and land managers.
“The Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2008 recovery plan states that removing protections for panthers would require ‘two viable, self-sustaining populations of at least 240 individuals’ that have existed for at least twelve years. Biologists estimate that the panther has not even begun to approach full recovery,” Buchanan wrote in conclusion. “Florida panthers have become an iconic symbol for the wilderness and beauty of Florida. We must do everything possible to protect this treasured species.”
At the end of 2015, Buchanan urged the FWS to designate a habitat for the Florida panther in a letter signed by fellow Republican then U.S. Rep. Curt Clawson and Democrats U.S. Reps. Kathy Castor, Ted Deutch, Lois Frankel, Alcee Hastings Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Frederica Wilson and then U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy.
Back in 2013, there were 160 Florida panthers in the wild but current estimates have it as high as 180. As low as that number is, it was far worse in the 1970s when the population dropped to around 20.
In April 2016, Buchanan was honored as legislator of the year by the Humane Society of the United States for his Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act which bans exporting horses to Mexican slaughterhouses. Buchanan has also led the charge on Capitol Hill to stop domestic slaughterhouses from creating horse meat for human consumption. The Bradenton congressman has also been active in trying to keep manatees covered under the Endangered Species Act.
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