Ah Power that swirls us together
Grant us Bliss
Grant us the great release
And to all Beings
Vanishing, wounded
In trouble on earth
We pass on this love
May their numbers increase.
–Gary Snyder
Reprinted from the book:
Earth Prayers, Roberts & Amidon
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The Florida panther used to encompass a VERY large range that included most of the southeastern United States. Now, their range is diminished to 5% of it’s historic range, a ]few thousand acres in southern Florida. They are related to the Puma in South America and Mountain Lion and Cougar of the midwest, the only difference between them being their home range.
Currently, there are only 100-160 adult panthers in the wild. And the only way to increase the number is to crossbreed them with the cougars, pumas and mountain lions. Last year alone, 32 cubs were born into the panther population. But at the same time, 24-28 panthers were killed. Most panther deaths are caused by panther fights, but there were about 9 caused by cars last year. Already, this year, 4 panthers have been killed.
The plan offered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service seen here has been in place for 5 years, but is still a LONG way from being enough. It also shows when the Florida Panther should be upgraded from Endangered to Threatened, and then removed from the list altogether. Here is another article, detailing the progress made in the last 15-16 years under the crossbreeding program in place. We need more cougars, or others, brought in to give the panthers even more fresh blood to their bloodlines. More choice in blood means more panthers born each year, and less inbreeding for these majestic, beautiful animals.
Humans need to be more cautious when driving along the roads to make sure we do not kill any of the innocent animals that we, as a whole, seem to be intent to kill off. Constant development of new places to live is taking up the remaining land the panthers live in. Driving at high rates of speed at night, when it is harder to see the gorgeous panthers, is what leads to the car-caused deaths each year. We need to Slow Down at night.
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