This was in a local paper in south Florida today..
Video of panther attack spurs wildlife agency investigation
By David Fleshler
Staff Writer
June 24, 2004
A Florida panther spent weeks feasting on easy prey at an Everglades petting zoo, leading a local resident to set up a video camera and
film the panther attacking a tethered goat. Now he is under investigation for possible violation of wildlife laws.
It is the latest fight over panthers, people and the value of wilderness, as a growing population of panthers tries to survive among the
Miccosukee villages, housing developments and tourist attractions of the western Everglades.
The panther began killing animals about three weeks ago at the petting zoo at Trail Lakes Campground, a few miles northeast of Everglades
City. Drawn by tame animals grazing just an easy hop over a low fence, the panther killed 16 goats, four emus, five ducks, three turkeys
and a chicken, said the owner, Jack Shealy. A biologist from the National Park Service confirmed that a panther was responsible.
With Shealy's permission, Jan Michael Jacobson, director of the Everglades Institute, which is critical of federal wildlife policy, set up
a video camera above a tethered goat.
The panther came that night. The attack lasted longer than he expected, said Jacobson, who lives nearby at Big Cypress National Preserve.
The panther mauled the goat slowly, apparently accustomed to killing tethered animals.
"After the goat had been savaged for about a minute, it's still on its feet," said Jacobson, watching from inside a recreational vehicle.
"As I looked, the panther was holding onto the rope with its teeth."
It looked around, licking its lips, as the goat cried out. The panther walked away, then came running back. Jacobson stuck his head out
the RV and slammed his hand against the vehicle, scaring off the panther. The goat survived.
Jacobson said the video showed that attacks by panthers can be drawn out.
Panthers have captured public attention, attracting millions of dollars from license plate fees and adding a touch of wildness to a
rapidly developing state.
Federal and state wildlife officials have claimed a qualified success in helping the panther inch back from the brink of extinction. Where
once just 30 adults prowled the wilderness of southwest Florida, now there are 90 to 100. And federal biologists are discussing
reintroducing panthers to northern Florida, Arkansas or other parts of their historic range.
But in an article for a property rights Web page (
www.eco.freedom.org/el/20040602/) in which he described his videotape, Jacobson blamed
"enviro-socialists" in government agencies for forcing dangerous animals on people simply trying to protect their property.
"There is something profoundly wrong in America when bureau-scientists can quarter large-bodied predators on citizens' lands," he wrote.
"We fought King George for merely quartering troops, not predatory animals on our ancestors' lands."
His videotape has led to an investigation by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
"We're investigating it," said Willie Puz, spokesman for the commission. He said the commission is trying to get a copy of the video.
Mark Lotz, a biologist for the commission, said it appeared that Jacobson violated the law against baiting wildlife. When people feed
alligators, bears and other animals, they place the animals and human beings in danger because they lead the animals to lose their fear of
people and to associate people with food.
"He's changing the behavior of that cat, making it less fearful of people," Lotz said.
He said the panther was behaving normally, and the solution was to fence off the goats and other animals. "Once he realizes he can no
longer get food from that place, he'll return to doing it the old-fashioned way, killing deer and hogs in Big Cypress."
Jacobson said the panther had lost its fear of people. "That animal has come for 16 days in a row," he said. "At this point, I'm not
baiting the cat at all. If anything, I'm interfering with its cafeteria."
Shealy said the panther had lost its fear of people long before the videotaped attack. He put up a 12-foot wall to contain his animals.
And he tried to scare the panther away with firecrackers and spotlights. "He just walked from one spot to another," Shealy said.
At one of the last attacks, bloody carcasses lay everywhere. Only a few showed evidence of being used for food.
"He left two goats, three turkeys, one emu and a chicken that he just killed and just left," Shealy said.
There has never been a recorded attack by a Florida panther on a human being. But Shealy is worried that this panther or another one will
one day kill a child around his camp. He wants the government to take the cat away or pay for fences. He said it's the government's
responsibility because the government decided to increase the population of panthers in Florida.
"It's their animal, it's got a collar on it," he said. "It's their experiment."
David Fleshler can be reached at
[email protected] or 954-356-4535.
Copyright ? 2004, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
