Buchanan: Critical habitat needed for endangered Florida panther

U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) called on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Monday to designate a “critical habitat” for endangered panthers following reports of another panther death in southwest Florida.

A one-year-old Florida panther was killed last week by a vehicle, according to wildlife officials, bringing the total number of panther deaths in 2015 from automobile-related accidents to 30.

The Florida panther is one of the world’s most endangered mammals, with fewer than 180 of the cats currently alive. The Florida panther breeding population is found only in the southern tip of the state.

“Each year, the Florida panther population continues to shrink in size as more big cats are hit and killed by cars because they lack a safe habitat,” Buchanan said. “Although these panthers are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act, they face extinction because they have no protected area to live and repopulate.”

Buchanan was joined by several other Florida congressmen earlier this month in sending a letter to President Barack Obama calling for a safe Florida panther habitat. The need for a safe environment that preserves valuable environmental resources, including wetlands, aquifer-recharge areas and drinking water supplies, was highlighted in the letter.

“We should not stand by and do nothing as yet another endangered species is wiped off the earth,” Buchanan said. “We don’t get a second chance once a species becomes extinct.”

Named to the endangered species list in 1967 as one of the list’s 14 original mammals, the Florida panther still lacks a critical habitat as required by the Endangered Species Act.