Adirondack advocate John Davis works to build visibility for wolves and panthers
By Tim Rowland
The big cats are gone now, but in the 19th century they spent a lot of time in the heads of early Adirondackers—more than 20 mountains and ponds go by the name of Panther, while there are few if any, say, Squirrel Mountains.
Restoring this original fabric of the Adirondack Mountains is one reason, but by far not the only or best one, said John Davis, the Adirondack Council’s advocate for bringing back nature back to its uncultivated state, a practice known as rewilding.
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This advocacy is always simmering in the background, but every so often it needs a boost of publicity to claw it back to the forefront of public consciousness, Davis said. So to do that, he is embarking on a Carnivore Challenge, visiting every natural feature with an apex predator in its name, such as the Wolf Jaws, Catamount Mountain and the 20 or more Panther mountains.
“The purpose is just fun—I love hiking and paddling and jumping in wild ponds and so forth,” Davis said. “But it is also motivated by my longtime passion for large carnivores and my desire to see them come home to our region.”
What worked and what didn’t
The Adirondacks are replete with rewilding success stories, including moose and beaver, both of which were hunted out of existence in the park. Some of the stories of panther hunting are particularly cringe-worthy by today’s sensibilities. Historian John Sasso, writing on how Panther Mountain in Chester got its name, found an 1878 news article stating that a local hotel owner had traipsed to the summit and shot a mother panther, returning to his establishment and showing off her two cubs.
Rewilding apex predators has been unsuccessful to date for multiple reasons. It’s conceivable that wolves could make it back on their own due to their relative proximity in Canada, but the nearest panthers are far to the west, and while the males will occasionally wander great distances, the females do not.
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Rewilding the big cats would require human help, and this hasn’t been a state priority. “State wildlife departments tend to assume that their goal is largely about maximizing so-called game species, the species that people like to hunt or fish, not so much about preserving and restoring the full range of native biological diversity,” Davis said. “I think that they should see their mandate as just that latter goal, to preserve and restore the full biota—the full range of native biological diversity.”
Changing attitudes
Davis also said he expects there is less opposition to rewilding than the state assumes, particularly as the public becomes more educated. Hunters, for example, have feared panthers will diminish deer herds. But predators seldom tangle with big, healthy trophy bucks prioritized by hunters.
Instead, they cull out the small, weak and diseased, actually improving the vibrancy of the herd. Hunters now understand this, and greater numbers are supporting rewilding, according to polling. Along those lines, hunting itself is an inefficient way of managing deer, which cause outsized ecological problems if their populations are allowed to expand unchecked.
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“We’re missing at least two of our keystone species, and I believe that as the climate warms and deer populations swell, our forests will probably suffer more and more from overbrowsing because of the lack of carnivores,” Davis said. “So part of my motivation is to find a way to remind people about the importance of these missing carnivores, and about their beauty as well.”
Too many deer can have devastating effects on species, from wildflowers to the young tree seedlings needed to regenerate the forest.
Addressing concerns
Davis said he’s sympathetic to some of the arguments and obstacles that stand in the way of rewilding. State agencies have tight budgets, farmers fear losing livestock and hikers may have a fear of panthers and wolves that is instinctual and should not be dismissed.
But he said these issues can be addressed. Volunteer rewilding groups can raise funding and help with management. Farmers can be compensated for rare instances of lost livestock—and probably already understand that deer cause more economic damage on their farms than carnivores ever would.
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“We should have more predators on the ground than we have names on the map.”
Photo at top: Cougar (Puma concolor) Photo by Larry Master
Excellent article! Awaiting the routine knee-jerk responses…
I love the idea of bringing back mountain lions and wolves to the Adirondacks mtns.
It’s the right thing to do, since humans have destroyed everything out of greed.
I fully support the efforts in restoring the natural balance back to the Adirondacks mtns. Yellowstone national park is a perfect example.
Thank you
John Giordano
The remote Adirondack areas wolves and mountain lions would inhabit are pretty baron. Mature growth, unmanaged forrest offers little food for deer and keep populations low as it is. We did not have coyotes to prey on deer back when wolves and cougars were here, they showed up after the big predators were gone. The coyotes and bears are already very hard on fawn populations. We used to have elk populations in NY when big predators were here, they are now gone. Big predators would decimate what small deer populations we have in the remote areas of the adirondacks. This article is a fairy tale dream, it would be a disaster for the wildlife we do have.
Explain the current overpopulation of deer in other areas. Lack of predators.
Areas where deer populations are very low are not attractive to predators. Predators naturally move around to areas of high prey populations. Predators do notwipe out prey species as some exclaim unless there are other pressures on the predators that do not allow them to move freely. Before prey are “wiped out” predators move on because it gets too hard to efficiently find food or feed progeny. If there are unnatural barriers to movement and roaming, they will likely starve or be killed on highways.
The article doesn’t focus on re-introduction. It is simply focusing on predator awareness and their scarcity in the Northeast. It is about starting conversations like this to help allay irrational fears and resolve the biases and traditional persecution of predators that result in an unhealthy balance of predator/prey dynamic and the damage this imbalance can incur on an entire forest ecosystem.
I would be very mindful publishing articles blindly for click bait. It very easy to research “rewilding” attempts out west and how disastrous they are to the eco system.
Diminishing the success of hunters in reference to herd management is bizarre. They have nearly a century of data proving otherwise. Check with our DEC.
These big cats are apex predators and will have multiple food caches sometimes with serval carcasses. These carcasses “could” include deer but more likely easier targets such as livestock, adolescent wild game and even pets. None of which plays into healthy herd management. We should be thankful they do not co-exist with the public.
Proper herd management is targeting the old, declining, mature animals to allow the younger generations to reproduce and thrive. You stating the cats don’t target these animals is contradicting to the intent of your article.
Conservationist give the small and weak adolescents a chance to make it. A sick animal, as you reference, already has plenty of predators after it within the Adirondacks.
Be prepared for hunters to solve this “big cat” issue down the road, if approved. They will need to be managed by the true conservationists.
If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
“Conservationist give the small and weak adolescents a chance to make it. A sick animal, as you reference, already has plenty of predators after it within the Adirondacks.”
This is true. However, allowing too many “small and weak adolescents” to become adults places burdens on the local habitat to supply adequate food. This is holding capacity. In the long run, overpopulation can weaken the entire herd through starvation, disease, and increased, random roadkill. Mortality of the young by predation is a necessary part of how prey species evolve. Prey species typically evolve natural fears and strategies to avoid predation. This is healthy for the species. It ensures that only the strongest, wariest animals survive to reach breeding age, which helps the holding capacity to provide for the adults.
In my hamlet, multiple does with 2-3 fawns each wandering around yards eating plants is not preparing them for healthy adulthood. It is almost impossible to frighten them. There is virtually no browse in the woods, which is absolutely necessary for their survival through winter. My game cameras document they struggle with mange and nutritional deficits through the winter.
This is but one example of how we think we are helping a species survive. That is, until hunting season when people focus on bucks and some does for “harvesting”. Another word for “farming”. Deer in some areas are essentially domesticated cattle. This should NOT be conflated with natural habitat and wildlife processes.
Until hunting pressure is adjusted to ensure long-term health of deer herds – especially in populated areas – herds are under threat from CWD, mange, malnutrition, and starvation. I am not anti-hunting, but deer management must more closely mimic natural stresses in the glaring absence of keystone apex predators. Coyotes and bobcats never have, and never will be apex predators. They are opportunistic and have a widely varied diet. Hunting was meant to take the place of apex predators, but it does a poor job of mimicing natural pressures. Modern hunting management needs to adapt to modern game conditions – not Depression-era practices focusing on simply maximizing game opportunities.
I love cats of all sizes, but I do not wish to be killed and eaten by one. No worries on wolves, but mountain lions have seen humans as ambush prey. Check with Californians on that one.
How many other areas around the world are humans threatened by big cats? Healthy big cats tend to avoid humans. There are no predators in North America that evolved by regularly predating on humans. When you have threats to humans in and adjacent to a huge metropolitan area, you certainly will have conflicts. But that doesn’t mean human behavior enabling attacks cannot be altered. IF YOU ARE ALONE, simply avoiding hiking/running routes where cats thrive is a first step. The often alarmist coverage of cat attacks often do not spell out how infrequent it is and what to do to prevent them. But I would feel safer out on a trail with slabs of raw beef on my back than I would feel in downtown LA or on the thruways.
People die in the Adirondacks from many other threats and conditions. If you venture into the wild, you take risks. You also take risks just driving from point A to point B. Persecution of creatures just trying to survive and reproduce because we are unwilling to take basic safety measures to minimize danger is not in out best interest long-term. WE LIVE IN NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS. It is in our own best interest to harmonize with these ecosystems and keep them healthy. Let us not allow fears of extreme imbalances in other areas to affect our rational thoughts and actions regarding our back yard.
PURE STUPIDITY !