Until now, anecdotal and scientific evidence for swimming cougars has been lean, leading scientists to wonder about large bodies of water serving as a barrier to cougar movement. However, the new research from Panthera reveals that cougars can swim surprisingly long distances, “challenging current thinking about the extent and connectivity of the cougar range,” according to a press release for the research.
Amazing that it has taken this long to document this and a lot of other behaviors.
Also , details on the Florida Panther (Puma concolor cougar/ coryi)
Current Distribution and Population: Breeding population is primarily restricted to Southwest Florida. Young males do wander all across the state and even up to northern Georgia as one male was shot by a deer hunter just southwest of Atlanta. Estimated population has been around 250-300 breeding age individuals for about 12 years now and we may have reached carrying capacity in Southwest Florida.Diet: Presently and likely in the past, the Florida panther’s primary prey is white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Wild Hogs (Sus scrofa) are highly favored though and in areas where they are abundant, over rank white-tailed deer in diet preference. Other species currently often preyed on include Raccoon (Procyon lotor), Nine-banded Armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus), Eastern Cottontail Rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus), Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), and Virginia Opossum (Didelphis virginiana).Reintroduced species that might be preyed on include Capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris), Collared Peccary (Dicotyles tajacu), Guanaco (Lama guanicoe), and young Wild Horses (Equus ferus).Threats and Limitations to Rewilding:-Habitat loss: This is the largest issue facing the Florida Panther. Florida is the fastest growing state in terms of population and welcomes about 100 million tourists a year from across the globe. Although panthers can adapt to fairly urban areas, they prefer large areas of low human activity. Home range size for Panthers is between 190 to 500 km^2 depending on quality habitat. Unfortunately, prime upland habitat with decent soil such as pine flats and oak groves, also tend to be the main habitat of the Florida developer. Panthers do live in seasonally inundated swamps and do quite well but females do need tree islands (dry upland habitat) to den.-Habitat connectivity: This is crucial to sustain remaining megafauna and possible reintroduced megafauna. Currently, the Florida Wildlife Corridor is working hard to connect protected wilderness and ranch/ pine plantation lands to allow contiguous connection from The Everglades up to southern Georgia. However, about 25% still needs to be secured but recent funding and legislation is looking good to connect the millions of hectares together.-Collision with cars: This is likely the largest killer of panthers in Florida. With millions of people in Florida and very few wildlife corridors across roads, about 20-50 panthers are killed each year. Most of these are killed crossing country roads with typically less human traffic. However, panthers are killed on major roadways and one large hurdle that the Florida Wildlife Corridor is working on is Interstate-4 (I-4). For those who aren’t familiar with I-4, it is an interstate that bifurcates the Florida Peninsula, stretching from Tampa in the west to Daytona in the east. The main reason for this interstate is to allow “quickish” travel to Orlando and Disney World. There are no wildlife under or overpasses which means any migrating panther would need to cross 8 lanes of traffic. The Florida Wildlife Corridor is working hard to try to put wildlife underpasses under I-4 with successful models seen on Interstate 75 (I-75) that runs through The Everglades and has a dozen wildlife underpasses frequently used by panthers and other wildlife. However, until there is a really good connection across I-4, there is going to be little hope for a strong panther population to form north of I-4.-Disease: Feral cats (Felis catus) are often killed and preyed upon by panthers, in particular young animals that are still learning to hunt. This allows transmission of diseases between feral cats and panthers. Feline Leukemia Virus(which can be transferred through predation), Feline Immunodeficiency Virus, and Canine Distemper have all been found in the Panther population. Fortunately, many of these have vaccinations that the US Fish and Wildlife Service gives to newborn cubs when they find dens. There is an odd condition that was found in panther and bobcat (Lynx rufus) populations about 5 years ago that looked like a neurological disease. However, it has not been documented since.-Chemicals: Mercury from agricultural and industrial practices concentrate in Florida panthers as an apex predator in the ecosystem. Panthers have been found with high mercury in their blood, likely from consuming raccoons that consumed high amounts of crayfish. Rodenticides are also a threat, in particular for more suburban panthers in the Naples area. This has been an issue with Mountain lions (Puma concolor cougar) in southern California.-Inbreeding: This has been the largest issue with the Florida panther recovery. The panther population was brought down to around 30 breeding individuals by overhunting. Many of these individuals were extremely closely related (think fathers breeding with daughters). With little genetic variation, birth defects such as non-descending testicles, kinked tails, heart problems, and bowed front paws showed that the panther population was in dire need of new genetics. To assist, eight female Texas cougars were brought in (the nearest cougar population) the early 1990s. Of these eight, 5 were released into the Big Cypress area of The Everglades. Of the five, three females really contributed their genetics. However, that was enough to invigorate the population and lead to a continuous population growth until about 2010. However, with the population possibly reaching carrying capacity and all pretty much now having the genetics of those three female cougars, we may once again see a genetic bottleneck and inbreeding repression. Two road kill males last year showed non-descending testicles.-Livestock depredation and human conflict: Although livestock depredation is low with Florida panthers, it does happen. Cattle ranchers bordering protected areas in south Florida have found depredated calves by panthers. This number is still lower than calves lost by disease and other depredations from coyotes (Canis latrans), black bear (Ursus americanus), and Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis). However, there is high conflict in one area of South Florida called the Golden Gate Estates where folks often have small hobby farms with goats, donkeys, and pigs. Defenders of Wildlife has a great program to assist these homeowners in getting guard dogs and reinforced night time housing. This will hopefully diminish conflict and can be used in similar areas where panthers could be reintroduced.Rewilding Capability- OpinionTo me, the Florida Panther should be the number one focus of rewilding megafauna in Florida. Not only would we be bringing an apex predator back, we would also be bringing an Umbrella Species that could be used to protect more habitat and lands in the greatly shrinking Florida forests. Their strong preference for wild hogs, makes them an ally to eradicate this highly invasive species and possibly make room for reintroducing peccaries and other extinct hoof-stock. What’s it going to take?First, the Florida panther recovery program says that there needs to be at least three viable populations in the Southeastern US to be deemed “recovered.” Currently we are looking at just the South Florida population, all of which are practically cousins. However, males do travel long distances so really to start a new population, you would just need females. Females are poor dispersers and it seems the Caloosahatchee River in Southwest Florida is a barrier that is preventing females from moving north. So if you bring females to these two other protected areas, the males will find them. However, I think it would be best to bring in new genetics and new females, possibly from Texas or even South Dakota that still have viable populations and aren’t too far. This would bring new additional genetics to the already diluted Florida population. Now where to put them?Ocala National Forest is a large forested area in Central Florida with great populations of white-tailed deer and wild hogs. Although the western portion is starting to be infringed a bit by human development, it’s overall pretty rural. The third population could be set up in Okeefenokee National Wildlife Refuge which borders southern Georgia and is the northern point of the Florida Wildlife Corridor. An early study, using sterilized male cougars, found that panthers can easily survive here. The issue that both these males faced was poaching. However, with better wildlife monitoring tools and much stricter laws in Florida and Georgia, this should be a limited issue.There are a couple of big blockages to this plan. The first is I-4 preventing northern expansion and still a major hindrance. However, installing wildlife corridors under the interstate should aid in the movement of the cats. The second is landowners with livestock. This is going to be a recurring issue that we’ll discuss but Florida is still a very large cattle producing state. I think the research done on the ranches bordering Southwest Florida protected lands should help ease some of the ranchers but each calf lost is $1,000+ down the drain. Livestock guard dogs seem to keep panthers away and out of trouble so this could be a viable option during calving time when predation is highest.There is a lot of love for panthers in Florida and I could definitely see in the next 50 years or so, a second and possibly third population created. The big thing is going to be connecting habitat, reintroducing genes, and reducing road mortality.Panther diet preferences: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/hwi/vol13/iss1/13/?fbclid=IwAR0YmtGmx5LUvAi3TXGZ1p_by9q59AusV_l2Ccrz5FUZ72MU532sR4w2n5cPanther Recovery Program: https://www.fws.gov/story/2022-04/florida-pantherThe Florida Wildlife Corridor: https://floridawildlifecorridor.org/Panther Dispersal: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320701002452Living with panthers: https://wildlife.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/wsb.187Potential areas for panther release: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232668324_Identifying_Suitable_Sites_for_Florida_Panther_ReintroductionDefenders of Wildlife Panther Depredation Program: https://defenders.org/wildlife/florida-pantherFlorida Fish and Wildlife Service Panther Sighting Map: https://app.myfwc.com/hsc/panthersightings/Home/Locations
Swimming a river