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"That was a milestone," wildlife biologist Jennifer Korn says of the sighting in the Babcock Ranch Preserve. Unlike males, females don't travel far from their mother's home range, a major limiting factor in the animal's expansion.
“那是一个里程碑。”野生动物生物学家珍妮弗·柯恩提到在巴布科克牧场保护区的那次目击时说。母美洲狮与公美洲狮不同，它们不会远离母亲的栖地，这也是这种动物扩张领域的主要限制因素。
About a couple dozen panthers now live north of the Caloosahatchee, Kelly estimates, including a few females.
凯利估计，目前约有二十几只美洲狮在卡鲁沙哈奇河北岸生活，其中包括几只母美洲狮。
The northward expansion is necessary for panthers to survive long term, but it's possible only if the Florida Wildlife Corridor, a patchwork of public and private lands that runs throughout the state, is preserved, Ward says. To make that possible, more conservation funding is needed to help landowners, mainly ranchers, prevent open spaces from becoming subdivisions, parking lots, and roads.
沃德表示，美洲狮想要长久存续，就必须向北扩张，但这只有在贯穿全州公共与私人土地的佛罗里达野生动物廊道得到保护的情况下，才有可能实现。因此，需要更多保育资金来帮助主要是牧场主的土地所有者，防止空地变成住宅区、停车场与道路。
Many of the cats in Florida live on public lands, including Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park, and Picayune Strand State Forest, which make up about 1,420 square miles.
佛罗里达州境内的许多美洲狮都生活在公有土地上，包括大柏树国家保护区、佛罗里达美洲狮国家野生动物保护区、法喀哈契滨水州立公园保护区，以及皮卡尤恩滨水州立森林等，总共占地约1420平方英里。
But these and nearby protected areas in South Florida cannot support a much larger population of these territorial animals, says state panther biologist Dave Onorato. Panthers may each need up to 200 square miles of territory in which to roam and hunt, he says. At the same time, populations of white-tailed deer, one of panthers' primary food sources, have dropped in areas of Big Cypress. That may be partly because of invasive Burmese pythons, which devour deer and other panther prey.
尽管如此，州政府单位美洲狮专家戴夫·奥诺拉托却表示，美洲狮是领域性动物，因此这些地区与邻近的南佛罗里达州保护区不足以支持更大的美洲狮族群。他说，每只美洲狮可能需要大约500平方公里的领土来漫游狩猎。同时，美洲狮的一种主要猎物--白尾鹿，在大柏树国家保护区某些地方的族群数量已经减少了，部分原因可能是缅甸蟒的入侵，这种入侵物种会吃掉白尾鹿与美洲狮的其他猎物。
