Florida's Endangered Species Find Refuge from Development in Venus

PANTHERS, KITES AND BEARS – OH YES!

If the idea that someone would build a mercenary war games training center near one of  Florida’s most environmentally sensitive areas  gets top billing for the most outrageous story of the year, there are some sub plots that follow closely behind.

It appears the developers of the Eagle Training Center are claiming that local wildlife are not endangered or threatened, or, if they are, they are not found precisely on the proposed property in question or even in the Venus/Fisheating Creek area.  Some of those protesting the proposed center have photographic proof that this is another false statement by the developers.  It may be time for some fact checking.

FLORIDA PANTHER:  The Florida panther is a critically endangered representative of cougar (Puma concolor) that lives in the low tides, palm forests and swamps of southern Florida in the United States. The Florida Panther is also known as the cougar, mountain lion, puma, and catamount.  These panthers live within a range that includes the Big Cypress National Preserve, Everglades National Park, and the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge. This population, the only unequivocal cougar representative in the eastern United States, currently occupies only 5% of its historic range. The number of living Florida panthers is estimated to be between 80 and 100.  

Recovery efforts are currently underway in Florida to conserve the state's remaining population of native panthers. This is a difficult task, as the panther requires large contiguous areas of habitat — each breeding unit, consisting of one male and two to five females, requires about 200 square miles (500 km2) of habitat.[9] A population of 240 panthers would require 8,000 to 12,000 square miles (31,000 km2) of habitat and sufficient genetic diversity in order to avoid inbreeding as a result of small population size. Southern Florida is a fast-developing area, and declining habitat threatens this species. The primary threats to the population as a whole include habitat loss, habitat degradation, and habitat fragmentation. Panthers have often been seen in the Venus area.  (Sources: Tom and Nancy Fennell and Wikipedia, on-line)

Also seen in the Venus area: black bear tracks, indigo snakes, and gopher tortoises.

BLACK BEAR:  Florida black bears are the largest native land mammal in Florida. It is shy and secretive, hiding in dense vegetation and rarely seen in the wild. Female bears can weigh between 150 to 300 pounds and male bears can weigh between 250 to 450 pounds. Most Florida black bears are between 5 to 6 feet long and are about 3 feet high at the shoulder. But it's not because of their size that black bears are called an "umbrella species." Because of their broad ecological requirements, black bears need a variety of habitats over a large geographic area. As such, they share living space with a variety of other protected, threatened and endangered animals. Some of these include the gopher tortoise, Eastern Indigo snake and the Florida scrub jay. By protecting the Florida black bear and its habitat, we also protect these other species' habitats. The Florida black bear is an important part of Florida's ecosystems.  (Source: Southwest Florida Water Management District)

The swallow-tailed kite (Elanoides forficatus) is an elanid kite which breeds from the southeastern United States to eastern Peru and northern Argentina. Most North and Central American breeders winter in South America. Swallow-tailed kites inhabit mostly woodland and forested wetlands near nesting locations. Nests are built in trees, usually near water. Mating occurs from March to May; one Venus resident told me that the kites land in her area on March 5th, every year!  (Source: Nancy Fennell).

Swallow-tailed kites are not listed as endangered or threatened by the federal government in the United States. They are listed as endangered by the state of South Carolina and as threatened by the state of Texas. They are listed as "rare" by the state of Georgia. Destruction of habitats is chiefly responsible for the decline in numbers.  Approximately 60% of the swallow-tailed kites in North America breed in the Venus area.

(Source: Wikipedia, on-line and personal communication)

Another “Bear” story:  Last week, a federal district judge in Montana put the grizzly bears in the greater Yellowstone National Park area back on the endangered species list. Judge Donald Molloy said the Interior Department’s 2007 rule removing the animal from the list — and the protections of the Endangered Species Act — had not provided adequately for the bears’ survival had failed to take into account the effects of climate change on the bears’ food supply.

Judge Molloy’s ruling makes it clear that saving a species like the grizzly isn’t just a matter of counting bears. It is also a matter of saving habitat. And where habitat has been degraded as rapidly as it has for the grizzly, extraordinary measures are required. Setting aside more habitats may be one of them. Whatever the answers, restoring the bears to the endangered species list is the essential first step to saving them — again.  (Source: NY Times, Sept. 28, 2009)

Florida Scrub Jays                                         

 

The Florida Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens⁾ is one of the species of scrub jay native to North America. It is the only species of bird endemic to Florida.  The Florida Scrub Jay is found only in Florida scrub habitat, an ecosystem found only in central Florida. It is characterized by nutrient-poor soil, occasional drought and frequent wildfires. Because of this somewhat harsh weather pattern, this ecosystem is host to a small assortment of very specific plants, including Sand Pine, Sand Live Oak, Myrtle Oak, Chapman's Oak, Sandhill Oak, Florida Rosemary.  Scrub habitat has dwindled considerably in the past several decades as Florida has continued to develop. Wildfire suppression also leads to the natural succession of large oaks and trees which changes the habitat of Scrub Jays.

The Florida Scrub Jay was officially listed as a threatened state species by Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission in 1975 and it was listed as a threatened federal species by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in 1987. Another attempt to conserve the bird is an ongoing campaign to name the Florida Scrub Jay the new state bird of Florida.  (Source: Wikipedia, on line)

 

 

(Compiled by Virginia E. Spencer, Sebring, FL, Sept. 29, 2009)