David Shindle

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Large carnivore restoration programs are often promoted as capable of providing ecosystem services. However, these programs rarely measure effects of successful restoration on other economically and ecologically important species. In South Florida, while the endangered Florida panther Puma concolor coryi population has increased in recent years due...

This SSA evaluates the current status of the Florida panther as well as an assessment on the risk of extinction in the future. This SSA applies the conservation biology principles of resiliency, redundancy, and representation (the 3 R’s) to evaluate the current and future condition of the Florida panther. Resiliency, redundancy, and representation...

Feral swine (Sus scrofa), an important prey species for the endangered Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi), is the natural host for pseudorabies virus (PRV). Prior to this study, PRV had been detected in just three panthers. To determine the effect of PRV on the panther population, we prospectively necropsied 199 panthers and retrospectively revi...

This report evaluates the current status of the Florida panther as well as an assessment on the risk of extinction in the future. This SSA applies the conservation biology principles of resiliency, redundancy, and representation (the 3 R's) to evaluate the current and future condition of the Florida panther. Also assessed is the concept of a fourth...

• Fear of predators can behaviorally mediate prey population dynamics, particularly when predation risk influences reproductive investment. However, the costs of reproductive investment may mitigate predation risk aversion relative to periods when the link between reproductive output and prey behavior is weaker. • We posit that intensity of reprodu...

Fire influences the distributions of cover and food resources for ungulates in frequently burned systems. Fire typically improves forage quality, and as a result, herbivores are often drawn to recently burned areas–a response termed the ‘magnet effect.’ Thus, fire can be an important tool for manipulating vegetation to benefit wildlife. However, mo...

To assess recovery of endangered species, reliable information on the size and density of the target population is required. In practice, however, this information has proved hard to acquire, especially for large carnivores that exist at low densities, are cryptic and range widely. Many large carnivore species such as the endangered Florida panther...

The ocelot Leopardus pardalis has become a conservation priority in the US as a result of severe population decline and loss of habitat during the 20th century. Only two small populations remain in this country. Their short‐term viability is threatened by the disappearance of dense thornshrub communities, human‐caused mortality and demographic stoc...

Florida panthers (Puma concolor coryi) are listed as an endangered subspecies in the United States and they exist in a single Florida population with <100 individuals; all known reproduction occurs south of Lake Okeechobee. Habitat loss is the biggest threat to this small population and previous studies of habitat selection have relied on very high...

The rediscovery of remnant Florida panthers (Puma concolor coryi) in southern Florida swamplands prompted a program to protect and stabilize the population. In 1995, conservation managers translocated eight female pumas (P. c. stanleyana) from Texas to increase depleted genetic diversity, improve population numbers, and reverse indications of inbre...

Four free-ranging mink, Neovison vison, collected between June and September 2004 in the Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park (FSPSP, Florida, USA), were examined for canine distemper virus (CDV) infection. Microscopic lesions and viral inclusions consistent with CDV infection were observed in three mink. Virus isolation and reverse transcription...

Feline leukemia virus (FeLV) was not detected in Florida pumas (Puma concolor coryi) in almost 20 yr of surveillance; however, the finding of two FeLV antigen-positive pumas during the 2002-2003 capture season led to an investigation of FeLV in the population. Between January 1990 and April 2007, the proportion of pumas testing FeLV antibody positi...

We studied dispersal in 27 radio-collared Florida panthers Puma concolor coryi in southern Florida from 1986 to 2000. Male dispersal was longer (mean=68.4 km) than that of females (mean=20.3 km), tended to be circular, frustrated, and of insufficient length to ameliorate inbreeding. Females were philopatric and established home ranges that were les...

Telazol was used to immobilize nine wild ocelots (Leopardus pardalis) captured in box-traps in southern Texas (USA) between May 1997 and April 1998. Mean (+/- SD) intramuscular dosage rate of 5.05 (+/- 0.76) mg/kg produced an induction time of 3.7 +/- 1.8 min. Duration of cataleptic anesthesia was 67.4 +/- 19.8 min and ocelots stood 50.0 +/- 30.7 m...

Notoedric mange was diagnosed in a free-ranging adult male ocelot (Felis pardalis) found dead in April 1994 in southern Texas (USA). The emaciated carcass had no body fat. The heart was enlarged and flaccid. There was a nonpurulent serosanguineous pericardial and peritoneal exudate. Severe encrusted skin lesions and alopecia extended from the head...

Notoedric mange was diagnosed in a free-ranging adult male ocelot (Felis pardalis) found dead in April 1994 in southern Texas (USA). The emaciated carcass had no body fat. The heart was enlarged and flaccid. There was a nonpurulent serosanguineous pericardial and peritoneal exudate. Severe encrusted skin lesions and alopecia extended from the head...