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Thursday, September 23, 2010

Sometimes Mother Nature just needs a hand

Texas Tail Saves Florida Panthers, for Now
In a rare story of conservation success, a last-ditch effort to save the Florida panther has slowed, if not reversed, the marvelous animal’s decline.

Fifteen years ago, America’s last eastern panther population had shrunk to several dozen individuals, riddled with genetic defects and too inbred to survive much longer.

Conservationists introduced eight female panthers trapped in Texas. Between 1995 and 2003, the newcomers bred with native cats; as described in a September 24 Science study, the gene pool was replenished. The Florida panther’s future is hardly assured, but it certainly looks better.
(There's an adorable picture of three cubs in the article.)

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