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Handbook
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Handbook
1980-1989
1981First Florida panther recovery plan.
The objective of the Recovery Plan is "to prevent the extinction and to re-establish viable populations of the Florida panther in as much of the former range as feasible."
Beginning of radiotelemetry investigations of panthers in Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve.
Florida human population reaches 9.7 million, almost double 1960 census.
1982
The state's schoolchildren choose the Florida panther as the official state animal.
1983
Florida legislature passes the Florida Panther Bill establishing the Panther Research and Management Trust Fund.
Florida Panther Technical Advisory Council established by the state legislature to advise the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission.
1984
Speed limits reduced to 45 mph at night on SR 84 and SR 29.
Predator-prey studies begun to gather information on the relationship between panthers and deer herds in the Big Cypress National Preserve.
1986
Florida Panther Interagency Committee established (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission, National Park Service, and Florida Department of Environmental Protection).
Conversion of Alligator Alley to Interstate 75 begun, with wildlife underpasses included in the highway design.
1985-1987
Sign surveys for panthers at Fisheating Creek, Glades County, and Corkscrew Swamp, Collier County. Panther sign (scat, scratches, tracks, and scrapes) was encountered regularly at Fisheating Creek and sporadically at Corkscrew Swamp (Roof and Maehr 1988).
1988
Sperm bank established to cryopreserve (freeze-store) semen collected from free-ranging male panthers.
Addition to Big Cypress National Preserve authorized (See Map)
1988-1989
First north Florida reintroduction study. Seven mountain lions (Puma concolor stanleyana) were captured in west Texas and released in the area of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge/Osceola National Forest. The mountain lions were used as surrogates to evaluate the feasibility of re-establishing Florida panthers in the area.
1989
Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge (24,000 acres) established. (See Map)
Above: Controlled burn, one of the techniques used to increase forage for deer in the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge.
Florida Panther Viability Analysis and Species Survival Plan prepared by the Captive Breeding Specialist Group predicts that the Florida panther population will decline by 6-10 percent each year, and that each generation will experience a 3-7 percent loss of genetic diversity. Management intervention would be necessary.
The Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed (CREW Trust), comprised of local, state, and federal government representatives, and agriculture, conservation, and business interests, is formed to protect 56,000 acres in southeast Lee and northwest Collier counties. (See Map)
