AR-News: U.S. Accused of Cooking Florida Panther Data

[jim robertson]

U.S. Accused of Cooking Florida Panther Data
    The Associated Press

    Monday 03 May 2004


    With no more than 100 Florida panthers roaming the southwestern part of 
the state, a Fish and Wildlife Service biologist is accusing the agency of 
putting developers' needs ahead of the endangered cats.

    Andrew C. Eller Jr., a Fish and Wildlife biologist for 17 years, filed a 
formal complaint Monday alleging the agency is knowingly using flawed 
science in key decisions affecting how much undeveloped land is set aside 
for the panthers.

    "Panther literature considered 'best available science' by the USFWS 
contains unsupported assumptions, uses inappropriate analytical methods and 
selectively uses data to support conclusions," Eller said in his complaint.

    He said agency figures are being inflated and habitat needs minimized. 
For example, daytime and nightly habitat use patterns are wrongly equated 
and all panthers are falsely assumed to be breeding adults to show a higher 
reproduction rate, he said.

    Eller said the agency should conclude that the animal's existence is in 
jeopardy, which could require stricter protections against development.

    "They're all getting the green light -- there's no such thing as a 
caution or red light," Eller, who lives in Vero Beach, Fla., told The 
Associated Press. "We're losing habitat to urban development and 
agricultural land conversion quicker than it can be protected."

    Florida panthers have considered an endangered species since 1967. The 
tawny golden or pale brown, long-tailed cats, measuring up to 7 feet in 
length and weighing up to 150 pounds, are a subspecies of puma and are 
closely related to cougars and mountain lions in the West.

    They once stalked Texas, Louisiana and the lower Mississippi River 
valley, but now are confined mostly to south Florida, within Big Cypress 
Swamp and the Everglades.




"One of the most dangerous things that can happen to a child is to kill or 
torture an animal and get away with it" —  Margaret Mead.

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