Care, feeding and sheltering needs of an apex predator....

The Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi), once distributed throughout the southeastern US, remains one of the world's most endangered mammals. With fewer than 200 individuals remaining in the wild, this federally endangered subspecies is currently restricted to one population located in southwestern Florida, where it is primarily associated with upland and wet forests but also uses a mosaic of other habitat types, such as prairie grassland and marsh-shrub land.

The panther population has increased nearly threefold during the past 15 years primarily as a result of genetic restoration, along with intensive management efforts to conserve and improve habitat quality and quantity, reduce vehicle-related mortalities and maintain or augment the abundance of prey species.

The panther population faces immediate threats from range restrictions and prey population declines. There are frequent reports of panthers near urban/developed areas as well as a marked increase in road-kills during the past 2 years in areas beyond the traditionally recognized region of core panther habitat. This suggests that the panther population may be nearing carrying capacity in the higher-quality habitats of its current range.

Population increases along the panther colonization front or in marginal habitat areas may be increasingly offset by a concomitant increase in mortality associated with more frequent human-panther encounters and an increase in intraspecific killing resulting from higher panther densities. Reference: "Male Florida panther dies in fight north of Immokalee” http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2011/jul/07/dead-panther-found-north-immokalee/

In the past decade there has been a rapid decline in the panther's two most important prey--white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and wild hog (Sus scrofa)--in some portions of its range, notably within the Big Cypress National Preserve. The rapid loss of primary prey portends a future population decline of panthers in areas where extended periods of standing water are detrimental to deer and hog numbers.

Urbanization has been a leading cause of habitat loss and fragmentation in Florida and will continue to complicate panther management efforts. Although only 1.3% of the panther primary zone will potentially be urbanized by 2060, based on projected urban growth, most development in South Florida is likely to occur along an east-west axis between Fort Myers and West Palm Beach, thus reducing or halting further panther colonization northward and severing important escape routes to higher elevations, such as the Lake Wales Ridge in the middle of the peninsula.

The disappearance of predators is having a disastrous impact on ecosystems. Until now, conservation efforts have largely focused on saving entire habitats, but in terms of their ecological impact, all species aren't created equal. You may hate panthers but without them, the land changes. We should focus on the apex predators--a species that kills and eats other animals, but has virtually no predators of its own at the top of the food web--which are currently disappearing even faster than other animals because they need lots of food, more space to roam and more time to reproduce.

If Collier County intends to provide habitat for apex predators, we need to figure out what they like to lunch on and preserve that. Any other plan is a total waste of time and resources! With all the permitted and planned construction in the major habitat corridors, the county food web will continue to shrink as we march toward build-out, leaving apex predators like our Florida panther, alligators, pythons, etc., with very limited options.