A neurological malady is appearing in some Florida panthers/NPS file
Some Florida panthers, already struggling with an extremely low population, are afflicted with a neurological malady that impairs their rear legs and leads to difficulty in walking, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
So far, the commisson has documented neurological damage in one panther and one bobcat through necropsy. Necropsy results of a second panther are pending. The FWC and collaborators have increased monitoring efforts for this condition via the deployment of video trail cameras in areas where the condition has been most frequently documented.
“These recent neurological episodes are yet another challenge facing the endangered Florida panther," said Elizabeth Fleming, senior Florida representative for Defenders of Wildlife. "We’re hopeful that this panther’s death has a silver lining, and that her necropsy results will shed light on why panthers are having difficulty walking and standing upright. Defenders of Wildlife will continue to work closely with state and federal agencies to help address this emerging and fatal threat in any way we can.”
Whether the condition can be spread from panther to panther is unknown at this point, according to the commission. "At this point we do not know. However, for example we do know of instances where a mother panther is unaffected but some of her kittens are affected," the agency said in its list of FAQs on the problem.
"The FWC is working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and a wide array of experts from around the world, including other puma biologists, wildlife veterinarians and disease specialists to examine evidence, identify possible causes and to see if similar cases have been reported elsewhere," it added.
While Florida panthers in the past have struggled to overcome inbreeding challenges, the addition of pumas from Texas back in the 1990s averted those problems. Florida wildlife officials do not consider the current ailment related to inbreeding.
"Because this is occurring in bobcats as well, we do not think there is a genetic component," the commission said.
North American cougars once had the broadest distribution of any terrestrial mammal in the Western hemisphere. Today, the only population east of the Mississippi, the Florida panther, is confined to a small fragment of their former range in southwest Florida. Many of the cats claim habitat in Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park. The current population is estimated between 120 and 230 adult and subadult individuals.
Growing human population and sprawling development in south Florida mean less panther habitat and more fatal interactions with humans – and their cars. Without access to more habitat, the long-term prognosis for the recovery of the Florida panther is bleak.
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Comments
Although I don't welcome the news this article delivers, I appreciate getting the information it provides. With that said, the article indicates, "While Florida panthers in the past have struggled to overcome inbreeding challenges, the addition of pumas from Texas back in the 1990s averted those problems." I believe there is more to the story and that the full picture of that original inbreeding challenge, the problem that caused it, the problems it caused, the problems that were helped by the introduction of outside genetics, the problems that may not have been helped by that introduction, and the potential problems that the introduction itself may have introduced are all much more complex.
First and as I hope most folks associated with this website already know, inbreeding results when a major portion of a species' or population segments' gene pool is stripped away in a major population decline that occurs relatively suddenly in evolutionary terms. The surviving members of the species or population segment are left to concentrate and reconcentrate whatever fraction remains of that original gene pool into a smaller and smaller and more and more uniform little slice of the original gene pool. Once this process has progressed far enough, suddenly enough, the rate at which natural attrition removes additional bits and pieces from the gene pool outruns the rate at which natural mutations can shore up and expand the gene pool and the surviving members of the species or population segment descend into inbreeding. Allowing the Florida Panther population to be driven, if not actually driving it, "extremely low" is what caused the inbreeding in the first place and we're still making the same mistake with countless other species.
As I have pointed out in previous posts to this website, the "usual problems" caused by inbreeding show up, initially, as immune system and neurological problems and then as fertility problems and diminished reproductive success. The article also indicates, "Florida wildlife officials do not consider the current ailment related to inbreeding. 'Because this is occurring in bobcats as well, we do not think there is a genetic component,' the commission said." I believe this may be a premature conclusion. There may not be a direct genetic link; however, the weakened immune sytems of inbred Florida Panthers may have provided a host in which a pathogen could have evolved into a stronger organism, one that could jump from one species to another, in much the same way that domestic pigs in Asia provided a host for the evolution of the global plague we now know as swine flu. If that could be the case, then "the current ailment" definitely could be "related to inbreeding" in Florida Panthers. Yes, "the addition of pumas from Texas back in the 1990s" did at least reduce some of the inbreeding problems in Florida Panthers; however, genetics is still not a fully mature science and there is no solid science to support a presumption that the introduction of Texas pumas cleared up all of the inbreeding issues. In fact, those introduced pumas could have introduced the ancestor from which the pathogen currently plaguing Florida's cats may have evolved. Those introduced pumas could even have introduced new genetic weaknesses that allowed pathogen already existing in Florida to use the Florida Panther as a host. I am not claiming to know what is happening to Florida's cats; but, I do know that there is too much glib and cavalier handwaving about gene pool loss, even among many conservation biologists; too much truth by emphatic assertion; too much giddy celebration of and reliance upon the assumed promise of hybridization, cloning, artificial breeding, and such; and too little intensity in the fight to define and protect healthy populations before gene pools suffer serious damage and species need extreme conservation measures.
There two other conservation problems associated with an "extremely low" inbred population. First, an inbred population, even one that has been hybridized to some extent, can be expected to still have a predominantly uniform gene pool and this uniformity can open the door to a single point failure mode hitting most or all of the population at one time. There is no evidence that "Florida wildlife officials" know what is attacking these cats; thus they can't really be sure how it is attacking or whether there are any firewalls to stop it left in that predominantly uniform gene pool. Second, an "extremely low" population, any "extremely low" population, especially an "extremely low" inbred population, is always more vulnerable to stochastic events that can impact all or a major portion of that small population. So, at this point, it is incumbent upon those "Florida wildlife officials" to immediately take all possible steps to protect this "extremely low" population and implement measures to grow this population as quickly as possible before the next calamity strikes. This situation is serious.
Finally, getting back to the giddy celebration of the introduction of pumas from Texas. There is a bit of a political risk in this sort of hybridization rescue. The Endangered Species Act (ESA) and actions taken to protect and preserve endangered species are both under fire. There have already been attempts to characterize endangered species and populations, Mexican and other types of wolves and several species of native trout being only a few examples, as "hybridized" and therefore ineligible for protections under the ESA. While I agree that what was done for Florida Panthers was absolutely necessary, I also strongly believe that the giddy celebration of it can only lead folks toward an excessively sanguine and complacent attitude, which is the last thing we need.
Rumple, for more on the Florida panther-Texas puma matter, be sure to listen to podcast #35:
https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/podcast/2019-10-13-national-parks-...
In it the researcher stated that the two species are the same, so no hybridization. And he talks about the impact of the "genetic rescue," if you will.
California found out their mountain were getting mange from eating rats that had ingested rat poison. It's something worth looking into.