FORT MYERS, Fla.— Conservation groups sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers today to protect endangered Florida panthers from a massive new development within the panthers’ occupied breeding habitat in southwest Florida.

Today’s lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Fort Myers, says the federal agencies violated the Endangered Species Act when they authorized a 10,264-acre residential and commercial development project known as Rural Lands West in important habitat for panthers in Collier County, Florida.

“The Fish and Wildlife Service violated the Endangered Species Act by approving this massive project smack dab in prime panther habitat and just a few miles from the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge,” said Jason Totoiu, a senior attorney and Florida policy director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Our state’s struggling panthers depend on a thriving southwest Florida population and the ability to expand northward, which are both threatened by this development. We’re suing to stop these cats from sliding closer to extinction.”

The Service issued a scientifically flawed, unlawful biological opinion that failed to determine whether panthers are already in jeopardy due to baseline conditions, including the network of deadly roadways and exurban development that has destroyed much of the panther’s occupied range. The document also failed to determine whether Rural Lands West project could tip the animals past the point where their recovery is no longer possible.

“The decision to file this lawsuit has been a long time coming,” said Matthew Schwartz, executive director of South Florida Wildlands Association. “For years, we have watched development after development encroach on the Florida panther's dwindling habitat. We’ve submitted comments on numerous projects at the county, state, and federal levels, urging agencies to prioritize science and protect Florida's endangered state animal. Our hope is that this lawsuit will finally determine how much development is too much for the Florida panther. We are also acutely aware that many more projects in the habitat beyond Rural Lands West are on the horizon, and this lawsuit may well be the panther's last stand.”

“We Floridians are so blessed to live among Florida panthers, the last remaining population of pumas in the entire eastern United States. As a keystone species and apex predator, they balance our healthy natural ecosystems,” said Rhonda Roff, Sierra Club Florida Calusa Group chair. “Florida panthers are also an umbrella species, so by preserving their habitat we save many other species, including our own.”

Nearly 20 years ago the Service developed a plan to help Florida panthers recover and since then the panthers have lost more than 30,000 acres of habitat. Nearly 30 panthers may be killed by vehicles in a single year. As their habitat dwindles, aggression between panthers has become a primary threat because individuals will often fight to the death to defend their territories. This habitat loss, panther-vehicle collisions and increased aggression amongst panthers vying for what little space remains in south Florida have created a tipping point endangering the future of the species.

There are likely fewer than 200 adult Florida panthers left in the wild and their numbers are declining. They are currently confined to a single breeding population in south Florida. According to the Service’s recovery plan, there must be three viable, self-sustaining populations of at least 240 individuals and enough quality habitat to support these populations for the species to be considered recovered and removed from the endangered species list. To achieve a sustained population goal of 240 panthers in southwest Florida, quality habitat must be protected.

Only when these recovery criteria are met and the panthers no longer need to be protected can their conservation be considered a success story.

The groups are represented by attorneys Lizzie Lewis and Bill Eubanks of Eubanks and Associates, based in Washington, D.C. Center attorneys Jason Totoiu and Elise Bennett also represent the Center.