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Town Hall Meeting To Discuss Florida
Panther on Thursday, November 16 in
Naples (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service news release)
November 6, 2006
For more information contact: Dani Moschella, FWC (561) 625-5132
Bob DeGross, NPS (239) 695-1107
Kyla Hastie, FWS (706) 613-9493 x234
State and federal agencies responsible for
managing the endangered Florida panther will partner with
Collier County Commissioner Jim Coletta to host a meeting with
Naples area residents about how to live safely with Florida
panthers and other wildlife. The town hall meeting is scheduled
for 7 p.m. Thursday, November 16 at the University of Florida
Agricultural Extension Service at 14700 Immokalee Road in
Naples.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National
Park Service are working to educate citizens of southwest
Florida about the endangered Florida panther. As the human
population in this area increases, Florida panthers and people
inevitably come into closer contact with each other. State and
federal agencies are increasing their efforts to provide
common-sense safety tips and strategies for living with
panthers.
“People have to be careful around wild animals,”
said Chuck Collins, Regional Director for the Florida Fish and
Wildlife Conservation Commission’s south Florida region. “We are
committed to working closely with residents of Collier and
surrounding counties to provide them information so they know
what to do to reduce risks to themselves, their pets and their
livestock.”
While there has never been a report of a Florida
panther attacking a person, the number of encounters between
Florida panthers and pets or livestock increased in 2006. Since
January there have been six confirmed incidents of panthers
preying on pets and domestic livestock – more than in 2004 and
2005.
"I have received a number of reports of panther
sightings in the Golden Gate Estates area,” said District 5
Collier County Commissioner Jim Coletta. “While there has never
been a reported instance of a Florida Panther attack on a
person, I still have concerns for the safety of our residents
that live in areas where panthers roam. For that reason I have
asked for this public outreach from both the state and federal
agencies that oversee the local panther program."
“As Southwest Florida continues to grow and
develop, there is less suitable habitat for panthers,” said
Layne Hamilton, manager of the U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service’s
Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge.
“If they have a choice, they’ll avoid humans. But they have
fewer choices these days. So the increased panther and human
interactions are likely to continue.”
The town hall meeting will provide information
to area residents about how to live more safely in areas also
utilized by Florida panther and other wildlife, such as black
bear and alligators. Agency representatives will answer
residents’ questions, listen to their comments, and provide
information and guidelines for ways to reduce risks from all
wildlife.
Once found throughout the Southeast, today
scientists estimate between 80 and 100 Florida panthers remain
in southwest Florida. Panthers are rarely seen, and travel
primarily at night. Because of their large home range (60 – 120
square miles), they travel widely looking for suitable habitat
and food. Public lands in Collier County including Big Cypress
National Preserve, Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge,
Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve, Picayune Strand State Forest
and the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed all support
panthers, but these large cats are also dependent upon private
lands that surround these properties.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the
principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting
and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for
the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service
manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System,
which encompasses 544 national wildlife refuges, thousands of
small wetlands and other special management areas. It also
operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 63 Fish and Wildlife
Management offices and 81 ecological services field stations.
The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the
Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations,
restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and
restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign
governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees
the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of
millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting
equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
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