Saved by a Hunter, Betrayed by Science: The Florida Everglades Panther Story
By the 1970s, the Florida panther was nearly extinct, with fewer than 30 left in the wild. As scientists raced to save the species, one of the most influential biologists in the field dismissed critical evidence and nearly pushed the panther closer to extinction, while an unlikely figure stepped in to change everything: a hunter. What followed was one of the strangest and most controversial conservation efforts in U.S. history, one that shouldn’t have worked… but did.