There is a "panther alert" for Florida drivers. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has announced the deaths of three panthers on Florida highways since New Year's Day. That's on pace with the deadliest year for panthers in recent memory, 2007, when 15 were killed. Each mortality is significant because only about 100 of the animals remain in the wild.

Mark Lotz is a panther biologist with the commission. He urges motorists to remember they're in panther country when they drive in the Everglades and Big Cypress areas of south Florida. He cautions that the animals are active at dusk and dawn -- and sometimes later in the day, at this time of year.

"Nobody plans on hitting a panther. The animals don't really understand how fast cars can move and they just dart across the road. It's usually a last-second thing, when you actually see one just before it gets hit. That means drivers must be more cautious and aware."

The Florida panther is the only surviving species of cougar east of the Mississippi River and is considered one of the most endangered mammals on Earth.

According to Lotz, the road-kill problem has been reduced to almost nothing in areas with wildlife underpasses, primarily along I-75 through the Everglades, and he says more underpasses are needed. Critics argue with the current budget crisis, new underpasses are not likely to be funded.

The risk of traffic deaths increases as development brings people closer to panther habitat, explains Elizabeth Fleming with Florida Defenders of Wildlife. She adds that panthers naturally avoid people, but they need about 200 square miles to roam. As development spreads, that space is becoming tougher for the animals to find.

"The largest threat to panther survival is fragmentation and destruction of panther habitat. We've got to conserve these large tracts of intact habitat. The greatest impediment to panther recovery is human intolerance."

Fleming says the Florida Panther Recovery Plan released in December offers hope. It was established to educate the public, to conserve panther habitat and to expand the panther population to other parts of the Southeast. In fact, the surviving panther population lives on five percent of the land where the big cat once roamed.

State wildlife commission biologist Mark Lotz says there's another human health factor intertwined with saving panthers, too.

"When you have all these natural areas set aside, you're providing an opportunity for the aquifers to be replenished. If people want to be able to turn on their tap and have water, wash their cars and such, we need these natural areas not simply for panthers but for our own survival, too."




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Today is Earth Day, and one initiative in southern Arizona is helping build public gardens providing beneficial habitat for pollinators, from Monarch butterflies to bees and bats.

Emily Bishton, founder and coordinator of the Arivaca Pollinator Pathway Project, said the human population depends on these animals and insects, as many of our foods and plant-based products require pollination. But human activity and climate change have put pollinators in jeopardy and Bishton wants to increase awareness of how crucial they are.

"The best chance you have for attracting and nurturing pollinators is with the species that they've co-evolved with," Bishton explained. "They will instinctively know that is food for them, or a place they can lay their eggs. They also are more likely to be able to put up with the way our climate is now and the way it is changing."

Bishton pointed out one focus of the project is to get Arizonans to plant more native species like milkweed, which is especially critical for Monarch butterflies. She would also like people to reconsider the use of pesticides since they do kill pests but also other beneficial insects. She suggested contacting a local county extension service or master-gardener program for alternative methods.

Madian Romero, technical assistant supervisor for the Caviglia-Arivaca Library, has been responsible for getting teenagers in the area to participate in the Arivaca Pollinator Pathway Project. They not only help build garden spaces around town but grow their knowledge behind the importance of pollinators, as well as community building.

"The teens, they've come up with ideas on how to fundraise for the projects," Romero emphasized. "Each business that agrees to have a garden, it can be free."

Romero added the project has also been a character-building exercise for the young people of Arivaca, and hopes it is an experience they will cherish.

The state Department of Natural Resources and Iowa State University are looking for volunteers to help create a new Bumble Bee Atlas.

Bees are an important part of the ecosystem, and scientists are figuring out their habitats to help them thrive.

Iowa is home to at least 14 species of bumble bees that help pollinate native wildflowers and flowering crops in farm fields and backyard gardens.

Iowa State University University Professor of Sustainable Agriculture and plant pathologist Matt O'Neal said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently listed several bee species as endangered.

"And that includes the Rusty Patch bumble bee," said O'Neal, "20% of what it used to be, and that includes parts of Iowa. There is also evidence that other bumble species are in decline and so, this survey will give us a chance to see where those bees are and how abundant they are."

With that information, O'Neal said scientists can work to protect the bees' habitats and create Iowa's Bumble Bee Atlas.

It's part of a larger project to map the bees and foster bee development nationwide. Sign up online to volunteer.

The national project is part of a collaboration with the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.

Some 900 people have volunteered for the national atlas project, and counted more than 20,000 bumble bees - which O'Neal said face several major threats.

"Pesticide exposure, parasite and pathogens," said O'Neal, "and then the last 'P,' and probably the most important, is poor forage."

The researchers will work to alleviate those threats by knowing where the bees are.

Volunteers have discovered species thought to be gone from their states, contributed to new field guides, and improved scientists' understanding of bumble bee populations across the country.




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A coalition of conservation groups has sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for refusing to relist wolves under the Endangered Species Act.

Helena-based Alliance for the Wild Rockies is part of the suit. The Alliance sued to successfully overturn the wolf's delisting in 2012 but the move fell victim to congressional funding bill negotiations.

Mike Garrity, executive director of the alliance, said the wolves clearly qualify to be protected under the Act and hunting is driving down their numbers, which could cause problems for the animals.

"As their numbers decline, they are at greater risk for inbreeding," Garrity pointed out. "Once inbreeding sets in, the population is sunk."

Livestock and cattle owners argued wolves are a threat to their flocks and herds and want their numbers reduced. The suit was filed in federal District Court in Missoula.

Beyond keeping a robust population of wolves on Montana's lands and helping their species thrive, Garrity noted wolves can also help reduce the population of diseased animals.

"We're starting to have disease in deer, such as Chronic Wasting Disease," Garrity explained. "Predators like wolves are really good at focusing on the sick animals, so that's an excellent way to control Chronic Wasting Disease."

Garrity added wolf management policies in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, all of which allow aggressive hunting of the animals, fail to protect wolves and all native species for future generations, the primary mandate of the Endangered Species Act.