Ethical Dilemmas In Florida Panthers

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Today, Florida panthers are the only subspecies of cougar left East of the Mississippi River. Florida panthers are currently part of the national endangered species list with only an estimated 30-80 wild panthers still in existence. In the late 1800s, a $5 bounty was placed on the Florida panther because they were believed to be a danger to the growing livestock industry in Florida. The panthers were slaughtered almost to the point of elimination. Then in the 1930s and 1940s, large clearing of wilderness began to make room for human development, but this clearing wiped out the Florida panthers' habitats. The panthers were then pushed to the Everglades, which is where the last group of wild panthers currently reside. Human development of the panthers' habitats and the bounty placed on the panthers were both unethical decisions that led to the endangerment of the Florida panthers. Aldo Leopold once described land ethics by saying, "A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.” These unethical decisions did not intend to preserve the biotic community. Instead, the human population responsible for these decisions acted in favor of their own needs and ignored the needs of nature. The decisions to place a bounty on the Florida cougars and to demolish …show more content…
Now, these panthers are limited to south Florida. Florida panthers prefer upland forests with dry ground and more prey for their habitats, but these areas, located north of Highway 75, have been under attack by human development. The panthers have been forced to relocate to the Everglades National Park, which contains mostly wetlands and less big game prey than the upland forests. Panthers in the Everglades are much smaller and less populous than those that reside in forest