Panthers may come to Georgia

Folkston —- Georgia’s Okefenokee Wildlife Refuge echoes with life. Herons squawk, insects buzz, frogs croak, alligators rumble, bears crash through the reeds.

Now federal wildlife managers are considering returning a long-missing voice to the chorus: the scream of the panther.

For the moment, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is focusing its efforts on ensuring the endangered Florida panther survives and thrives in the one area where it is known to have an established population: the swamps of deep southern Florida.

But a recently released report by the federal wildlife managers says that to ensure the survival of panthers, they eventually will have to widen their range. Among the handful of other spots the report names as most hospitable to the big cats is the more than 400,000-acre Okefenokee refuge.

The refuge —- perhaps most famous as the fictional home of the cartoon possum Pogo —- protects the vast, legendary swamp in Georgia’s southeastern corner that is the source of the Suwanee and St. Mary’s rivers.

According to the report, a limited experiment in the late 1980s and the first half of 1990s placed panthers from Texas near the Okefenokee refuge, and they appeared to adapt well. But at the end of the trial, they were removed. The report acknowledges that reintroducing the cats —- which can reach 8 feet in length and weigh 140 pounds —- is more challenging than simply finding suitable habitat.

“Although there appeared to be support for reintroduction among the general public … local landowners tended to oppose having panthers on their property,” the report said.

Reluctant neighbors

Even though there are no firm plans for any reintroduction into Georgia, some residents in Folkston, which bills itself as “The Gateway to the Okefenokee,” would rather not host the cats.

Some residents recall that during the experimental release, there were several attacks on family pets and livestock. Some of the cats were killed, too.

“The problem is if they turn them loose, they’ll go where they want to go,” said Henry Vanzandt, who runs a Folkston chain saw shop. “I’m not crazy about the idea of them being around my place because I’ve got cattle. A farmer’s got to protect what he’s got. I don’t imagine people around here will be that high for bringing them in.”

Such concerns aren’t lost on wildlife managers, who say any reintroduction program will come only after extensive efforts to enlist public support.

“Public acceptance is the most important factor in any future recovery plan,” said Paul Souza, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service field supervisor involved in the effort to save the animals. “We want to establish a track record of public-private partnership in South Florida that can be a model for reintroduction into other areas.”

Once top predator

The panthers once ranged across the Southeast, a top predator feeding on deer, wild boar and other game.

But contact with colonial settlers proved deadly for the cats, which were hunted and shot by farmers protecting their livestock. The inexorable push of railroads, cities and highways into once wild forested areas also destroyed their habitat.

Listed by federal officials in the 1960s as endangered, they are considered one of the planet’s species most at-risk for extinction. By the 1980s they were found only in a large swath of swampy land in South Florida including the Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park.

Their numbers had dwindled to an estimated 20 to 30 animals, a population so low that researchers found newborns were beset by sterility, heart defects and other problems triggered by inbreeding.

In a desperate bid to stave off extinction, wildlife managers in 1995 brought in eight female Texas panthers, a closely related species, to broaden the genetic pool. The gamble paid off, and the panthers rebounded to about 100 to 120 cats today.

But the species’ survival is far from assured. Male panthers require up to 200 square miles of territory each, and the current population already is straining the 3,500 square mile area they now inhabit.

Best chance: Spread out

Several long-running studies have led wildlife managers to conclude the best chance for survival is the reintroduction of the panthers to locations other than South Florida. Ideally, three populations in separate areas would give the cats their best shot.

“We’re looking at the numbers we need for genetic viability, and we think it’s about 240,” said Souza.

Georgia officials have participated in some of the panther research, but have no official position on reintroduction.

“We don’t want to see the species lost and will be willing to explore possibilities, but if you can’t get the support of the people in the area it isn’t viable,” said Mike Harris, chief of the Non-Game Conservation Section of the state’s Department of Natural Resources.

In Folkston, news that the area might be considered as a relocation spot for the panthers has generated headlines in the local newspaper, with some residents expressing opposition.

But others say they would welcome the chance to help save the species.

“Cattle might be a concern, but I don’t see a problem,” said Demarus Johns, a rural resident who runs a paint store and contracting business. “We already have bears and gators, so what’s the difference?”

PANTHER PROFILE

> Scientific name: Puma concolor coryi

> Size: 115-140 pounds, 2-3 feet tall and 5-8 feet long

> Diet: Deer, hogs, raccoons, armadillos

> Lifespan: 8-10 years in the wild; 10-20 years in captivity

> Leading causes of death: Turf wars among males and collisions with vehicles.

—- Staff research

 CHARLES W. JONES / Staff 
Map locates the Current Florida panther range in Florida and the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia.