http://action.sierraclub.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=145042.0
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kristina Johnson, Sierra Club
(415) 977-5619
Sierra Club Pushes for
Expanded Habitat to Help Panther Survive Global Warming
Sea Level Rise, Storms, Threaten Current
Habitat
WASHINGTON, D.C. -
The Sierra Club today is calling on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to help
the Florida panther survive global warming by protecting its habitat. In a
petition filed today, the Sierra Club proposed a critical habitat designation
that includes migration corridors and additional land that will help panthers
adapt to sea level rise, stronger hurricanes, and other impacts of global
warming.
"In many ways, the Florida
panther is like the polar bear of the South. Because of its low-lying and
exposed habitat, the panther is extremely vulnerable to global warming," said
Sierra Club Representative Frank Jackalone. "In order to survive sea level rise
and other impacts of climate change, panthers need to be able to migrate to new
ground."
Florida panthers
were listed as an endangered species in 1967, and at times as few as six Florida
panthers have been thought to remain in the region. Today, that number is up to
between 90-120 panthers, but unchecked development is whittling away at the
limited habitat that remains.
Although the Florida panther is protected under the Endangered
Species Act, it is still not protected from the single greatest threat to its
survival-loss of habitat. Environmental groups like the Conservancy of Southwest
Florida have already called on the Fish and Wildlife Service to take an
important first step in designating critical habitat for panthers.
"Of what remains of essential panther
habitat, continued threats of fragmentation and development further the plight
of the panther and jeopardize its recovery from the brink of extinction," said
Conservancy of Southwest Florida representative Andrew McElwaine.
Climate change will intensify threats to
the panther’s current habitat, making the need to protect that vital core area
from other pressures-like runaway sprawl-even greater. However, protecting
only the habitat where panthers currently live will still leave them trapped on
islands of protected habitat, much of which is vulnerable to storms and sea
level rise brought by global warming.
"In the face of global warming, protecting the places where
panthers live right now just isn't enough," Jackalone said. "We need to help the
few remaining panthers migrate, adapt, and survive."
The Department of Interior recently made a formal commitment to
help wildlife survive global warming by encouraging interagency cooperation and
long-term planning for adaptation. http://action.sierraclub.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=130441.0
Through its Resilient Habitats program, the
Sierra Club is encouraging federal and local efforts to help wildlife adapt to
global warming, as well as working to protect the migration corridors that will
be necessary for animals like the Florida panther to survive climate change. For
more information, visit www.sierraclub.org/resilienthabitat
Kristina Johnson
Deputy Press Secretary
Sierra
Club
Office: (415) 977-5619
Cell: (541) 914-9744
85 Second Street - 2nd
Floor
San Francisco, CA
94105-3459
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