If cats have nine lives, an endangered cougar subspecies may be down to its last one. The Florida panther has been a whisker away from extinction for decades, struggling to survive amidst habitat loss, pollution, disease and uncontrolled hunting.  Unfortunately, massive, hungry snakes from overseas are bringing more darkness to the future of this Sunshine State mascot.

Giant Burmese pythons are gorging, hissing and crushing their way through the Florida Everglades. These invasive snakes are gobbling up mammals left and right that serve as the food for panthers.  A new study blames a more than 90 percent drop in wildlife sightings of raccoons, white-tailed deer and bobcats in the Everglades on Burmese pythons. These lethal reptiles have no natural predators in the region, like living in wetlands and can live a year without food. They can also live for up to 25 years, grow over 20 feet long and weight up to 200 pounds.

Irresponsible owners who can’t handle giant predatory pets like Burmese pythons dump them in the wild where the snakes terrorize native wildlife and people. Recently, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service prohibited the importation and interstate transportation and sale of the Burmese python and three other non-native constrictor snakes. However, the agency dropped five other dangerous constrictors from this list. A full restriction of invasive constrictor snakes would save taxpayers money and help endangered species in the Everglades.

There are fewer than 200 Florida panthers left in the wild, and invasive species like the Burmese python are only making the problem worse. Take a moment to take action and keep this American icon from disappearing forever. Click here to see the work the National Wildlife Federation and the Florida Wildlife Federation  are doing to save the Florida panther.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Built a Quarter Mile of Oyster Reef in Mobile, Alabama

Kicking off the first event with chilly, overcast conditions on January 22^nd and 23^rd, over 500 volunteers from Alabama and across the country came together in Mobile bay to foster the beginnings of oyster reefs. 16,000 bags of oyster shells were carefully dispersed along the shore with the goal of building 100 new miles of oyster reefs and 1000 miles of replanted marshlands along the Gulf in Alabama to make Alabama’s coastal areas more resilient to impacts from hurricanes, oil spill accidents, and climate change. The work was the result of a collaboration of more than 20 public and private partners including National Wildlife Federation, Nature Conservancy and NOAA.

Restored Native Ground Cover at Bald Point State Park

Next, volunteers gathered at Bald Point State Park on Florida’s Gulf Coast.  Park Ranger Kevin Patton introduced us to our work site for the next two days and we successfully worked in teams and planted 5,000 wiregrass plugs and disperse a dozen bags of seed. Bald Eagles and other migrating raptors, along with monarch butterflies use this area to rest before continuing south for the winter.  It is imperative to keep these lands healthy. Additionally, the Florida Wildlife Federation gathered signatures to petition for a constitutional amendment to prohibit oil and gas drilling in Florida’s near-shore waters.

Restored Dunes to Protect Nesting Wildlife at Perdido Key State Park

Next up, dune restoration in Perdido Key, Florida!  Joined by over 75 volunteers including the US Navy and Air Force at Pensacola, combed the beach to protect the critical habitat of residential and migratory nesting wildlife such as turtles and birds!  As the oil washed up on miles of beaches along the Gulf Coast, Perdido Key, home of the endangered Beach Mouse felt heavy impacts. Volunteers worked as temperatures reached the high 80s to rebuild and protect an important dune boundary to help native grasses and habitat for nesting shore birds, turtles, and the native beach mouse.

Conserved Acres of Beach and Recreation Trails

On March 25^th our next event was about 2 hours East of Perdido Key at Topsail Hill Preserve State Park in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. University of California at Berkley students dedicated their spring break time away from examinations and study sessions to engage in hands on restoration work on some of the most beautiful beaches in the country. Joined by South Walton Community locals, we were able to accomplish clearing and marking 6 hiking trails, installing signs and effectively roping off over 3 miles of beach to protect the dunes and wildlife who nest there, and remove invasive exotic plant species to allow for native pitcher plant growth.

Restored the Marshes of Mississippi

Over 30 volunteers worked in Ansley Marsh which borders the Gulf and is a haven for migratory birds and many alligators.  Volunteers toiled in the sun with many insect friends to remove debris from Hurricane Katrina, plant marsh grasses and work on the removal of the very invasive Chinese tallow tree (popcorn tree).  The marsh is part of the gateway system protecting the open waters of the gulf from the shoreline homes of MS coastal communities.

Rebuilt Marsh in Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge

Last stop – West to Louisiana!  Tasked with planting over 20,000 grasses over two events (four days), National Wildlife Federation partnered with US Fish and Wildlife Service and  the Louisiana Wildlife Federation to make this goal a reality.  Just outside of New Orleans, Volunteers traveled to Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge to plant marsh grasses to restore lost habitat for waterfowl and other wildlife species.  This event almost fell exactly on the one year mark of the Gulf oil disaster. Ben Weber, NWF’s Oil Spill Response Coordinator for the Western Gulf said “Heightened public awareness, volunteer enthusiasm and support from NWF members is making a big impact.” On April 15^th and 16^th and over Memorial Day weekend, volunteers worked in high water levels on uneven muck and mud to space plants across the water five feet apart.  Mary Swantek who traveled with a group of 15 volunteers weighed in on her experience, “Working in the marsh just outside of New Orleans was a once in a life time experience.  We not only took an air boat ride to get to the work site but were surrounded by all kinds of wildlife, it was absolutely beautiful.  Crawling in 4 to 6 inches of water and planting marsh grasses was a bit intimidating at first but with adrenaline running high we were all there for one reason… to protect these lands and protect wildlife!” Margaret Mead once said: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.   Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.” Having had the opportunity to organize and travel to work hands on at several of these events, this quote takes on a new meaning for me.  The level of commitment, enthusiasm, and dedication to wildlife and wild spaces from volunteers who traveled near and far to work with National Wildlife Federation is astounding.  It is indisputable that our hard work from Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, to Florida made a difference to local habitat and wildlife.

UPDATE: On June 25, 50 volunteers planted 1,600 black mangroves in Grand Isle, LA as part of the the Gulf Coast recovery effort.

Less than 100 Florida panthers are left in the wild.

The Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission reported two Florida panther deaths in the past two days.

The panthers were both struck by vehicles, bringing the total number of panther road kills in 2010 to 15.

In 2009, 17 panthers were killed on Florida roadways–the highest number ever recorded.

With less than 100 panthers left in the wild, the deaths are a big blow to the endangered cat’s population.

The deaths both occurred in Collier County, Florida. Officials say a 2- to 3-year-old male was found Sunday on U.S. 27, and a 1 1/2-year-old male was recovered on Golden Gate Boulevard.

A Fort Meyers News-Press article noted that, “An 8-month-old female kitten was killed at [the second] location in May. Officials say it is possible that the panther killed this morning was a sibling of the kitten killed in May, and belonged to the family group that frequents this part of the Estates.”

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Florida Panther Protection Program Aims to Reduce Fragmentation

Signs like these warn motorists to watch for crossing panthers.

Florida panthers are endangered due much in part to habitat loss and fragmentation. Adult male panthers depend upon a territory of about 200-250 square miles. This is becoming harder and harder to come by in South Florida.

To help protect and connect more habitat, National Wildlife Federation’s state affiliate, Florida Wildlife Federation, is working with a coalition of conservation groups and small and large farmers and ranchers in Eastern Collier County on the Florida Panther Protection Program.

The goal of this program is “the protection of a significant, contiguous range of panther habitat – potentially as much as 2,500,000 acres in public and private lands.” In addition, it calls for the establishment of the Paul J. Marinelli Panther Protection Fund, a source of private funds from well planned, sustainable real estate development in Eastern Collier County that could make significant funding available for conservation efforts over decades to come.

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The result has been that even in our largest wild places, like Yellowstone National Park’s 2.2 million acres, wildlife populations are becoming isolated from one another, shutting off their ability to move from place to place, as ecology may demand, while turning them into genetically isolated groups.

Studies show that even our largest parks may not be able to sustain populations of large mammals much beyond the next century.

The solution to this isolation, as discussed in a current National Wildlife magazine story, is wildlife corridors, also known as greenways, linkages and passageways. These tracts of habitat link two or more larger core wildlife areas.

Some are naturally occurring, such as the Milk River and its tributaries, along which pronghorn migrate between Canada and Montana, while others are made by humans, like 42 culverts recently installed under stretches of U.S. Highway 93 on the Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana, making the roadway permeable to wildlife.

Now in its 75th year of wildlife advocacy, National Wildlife Federation has a long history of seeking protection for wildlife habitat. Here are four corridor projects you should know about that are supported by NWF and/or its affiliates.

4 Wildlife Corridor Projects We’re Working On

1. The Staying Connected Initiative

National Wildlife Federation’s Northeastern Regional Center in Montpelier, Vermont, is working with The Nature Conservancy and some 20 other private and public entities to create a vast habitat  corridor that will connect six wildlife-rich landscapes in the Northern Appalachians and span a total of 80 million acres across New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and two Canadian provinces.

Wildlife in the area—which harbors alpine vegetation, old-growth forest and large blocks of unfragmented forest—includes such locally at-risk creatures as lynx, moose, black bear, pine marten and fisher.

Funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Staying Connected Initiative seeks to protect habitat from fragmentation and climate change and to restore landscape connections.

“We approach this goal in five ways,” says George Gay, NWF senior Safeguards Program manager:

1. Working to make roads safer and more permeable to wildlife, an objective that also  improves human safety on roads;
2. Applying conservation science, such as mapping, to determine a baseline for regional wildlife habitat and restoration;
3. Assisting towns with “development in the right areas and protection of sensitive natural resources”;
4. Helping private landowners manage backyard habitats–an important factor in Vermont, where 80 percent of all land is in private hands, Gay says; and
5. Partnering with land trusts for permanent wildlife habitat protection.

The initiative seeks to increase awareness of wildlife and its needs so that towns and private landowners will incorporate wildlife into planning and management.

“We want to empower local groups and citizens through education and outreach,’” Gay says. “It works out really nicely from the National Wildlife Federation’s point of view, because it’s grassroots advocacy.”

2. Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y)

The Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y) involves a project area of 8,000 square miles and more than 200 cooperating agencies, organizations and businesses, making Y2Y the largest landscape-scale conservation effort in North America. The initiative identifies critical core habitats and threats to wildlife connectivity and partners with citizens’ groups, municipalities and industry in order to manage the use of motorized vehicles in backcountry areas, to make dumpsters bear-proof so grizzlies don’t get into trouble and have to be killed, and to convince mining, logging and energy companies to fragment less habitat.

3. Florida Wildlife Corridor

The Florida Wildlife Federation is working to protect a greenway called the Florida Wildlife Corridor, which would allow animals to move freely from the Everglades, at the southern end of the state, into Georgia at the northern end.

4. South Coast Wildlands Project

The South Coast Wildlands Project is working to protect 15 critical linkages and wildlife-compatible surrounding lands in coastal southern California, one of the world’s largest metropolitan areas.

Developing new corridors and protecting existing linkages are two keys to ensuring the survival of viable populations of large animals and of animals that need a lot of elbow room, such as pronghorn, Florida panthers, lynx, wolves and grizzlies.

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