Cat Tale

October 28, 2019
Asking how Florida panthers “manage to persist when the other big cats” of North America have seen their numbers sharply decline, journalist Pittman (Oh, Florida!) examines in his insightful volume how this population initially declined, and then came back. Having written about Florida panthers for the Tampa Bay Times for more than two decades, Pittman introduces some of the figures pivotal to saving them. These include West Texas native Roy McBride, an expert wildlife tracker once employed by ranchers to hunt large predators, who shifted focus mid-career to become a conservation advocate instead. Pittman skillfully captures small details suggesting character, such as how McBride’s “battered white Stetson” complements his “strong Western twang.” While celebrating conservation advocates, Pittman criticizes how real-estate developers eliminated acres of Florida wilderness, sometime without trying to “get permits before they started... because the fines they incurred cost them less than delaying,” destroying habitats where panthers used to roam freely. With clarity, insight, and heartfelt concern, Pittman effectively sheds light on conservation efforts in Florida for its official state animal. Agent: Andrew Stuart, Stuart Agency.

November 15, 2019
How Florida's panthers were saved from extinction. Sleek and elusive, panthers once roamed across North America, and Native people considered them spiritual beings. By the mid-1990s, in South Florida, fewer than 30 of the wild, solitary animals survived, sustained by marshes and other habitats that withstood the onslaught of suburbs, shopping centers, and other human development. Pittman (Oh, Florida!: How America's Weirdest State Influences the Rest of the Country, 2016, etc.) has been covering these predators--the state's official animal--for 20 years at the Tampa Bay Times, where he is an award-winning reporter. In this lively, funny, detailed account of the Florida panther's brush with oblivion and the madcap human efforts to rescue it, the author writes as an authority on both the animals and the uniquely Floridian men and women who have decided their fate. The humans are drawn out of Florida central casting. They include a wealthy playboy/scientist, a retired showman, a Santa Claus look-alike biochemist, and two former Detroit bootleggers. One biologist, known as "Dr. Panther," threw things off with flawed habitat research; a wildlife biologist's whistleblower suit corrected that. Veterinarian Melody Roelke's use of an electro-ejaculator to collect panther semen revealed the panthers' low genetic diversity. Drawing on dozens of interviews, Pittman weaves together stories of panther hunts, court cases, scientific rivalries, and political mischief to describe the activities of humans while panthers were being run over regularly in highway traffic. Experts argued over ways to help the cats; wildlife officials kept approving expanding development in prime panther habitat, such as the town of Ave Maria, brainchild of the founder of Domino's Pizza. Pittman clearly traces important events, from failed efforts at captive breeding to the introduction of eight female Texas cougars to reinvigorate the panther gene pool and mitigate inbreeding problems. As a result, the panther population has grown to more than 200 today. A bright, intriguing story of people and panthers with strong appeal for readers interested in endangered species.

COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

December 1, 2019

Investigative environmental journalist Pittman (Tampa Bay Times; Oh, Florida!) shares the story of the recovery of the Florida panther. In this fascinating, page-turning account, Pittman interviews scientists, veterinarians, and panther experts who were involved in the effort to save the panther from extinction. The team used radio collars to study the panthers' habits with an eye towards increasing the population. A captive breeding plan failed due to the lack of genetic diversity in the panther population, and the efforts were imperiled by panther experts who presented skewed research results, politicians who pressured state and federal agencies to allow development in panther habitats in order to appease wealthy donors, and supervisors who green-lighted these projects against the recommendations of their own scientists. Eventually, biologists executed a plan that increased the panther population while adding new genetic material. VERDICT This sometimes disheartening, but ultimately hopeful, exploration of how the Florida panther recovered against the odds will appeal to those who enjoy reading about wildlife and endangered species.--Sue O'Brien, Downers Grove, IL

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from December 1, 2019
Cougar. Puma. Catamount. Mountain lion. These names for the same cat reveal the breadth of its historical range across most of North and South America. West of the Mississippi, the cats survive in 16 states but persist in only one eastern state, Florida, and that remnant population is highly endangered. In one of the Endangered Species Act's remarkable success stories, the Florida panther was literally saved from the brink of extinction. In this delightful blend of scientific writing and good old-fashioned muckraking, award-winning journalist Pittman (Oh, Florida!, 2016) pens the absorbing tale of how the Florida panther was brought back from near-extinction. In a roiling tale of political infighting, state versus federal feuding, and scientific discoveries and rivalries, the story of the arduous salvation of this highly inbred cat crosses state lines as the closely related Texas cougar is brought in to ensure more genetic diversity. The ups-and-downs in this tale of survival, coupled with the charisma of the panther, make Pittman's "cat tale" hard to put down.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)