***I received a copy through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.***

As a Floridian, I was thrilled to dive into this book about one of Florida’s most famous (but least visible) animals. Working in the field of conservation, I’ve seen how hard it is to fight for wildlife. But learning a little more about the panther’s fight for survival is a pretty disheartening. This book is vital for Floridians because we need to learn from our mistakes and continue to fight. As of January 2020, 4 panthers have already been struck and killed by vehicles. I admire Craig Pittman’s hopefulness while closing this book - I’m there with you - but readers must know that the panthers fight is not over. And we have a long way to go.
Pittman did a wonderful job explaining the history of panthers, while including some fun Florida facts, and evoking emotion. Terrific read that I can’t wait to share with other conservationists around the state.

Once upon a time, I dreamed of being Dr. Donna so I went to graduate school, picked Florida panther recovery as my project, life happened and I decided it wasn't really a direction I wanted to go in. But I did love my project and have thought about publishing my non-defended dissertation is some form. So when I saw Craig Pittman's Cat Tale: The Wild Wierd Battle to Save the Florida Panther, I had to pick it up - partly to see if I missed my chance and partly because I'm still very much interested in the subject.

Craig Pittman is a journalist so his book is not an academic type book. It is definitely written with a general audience in mind. With that said, if Cat Tale had been available when I was working on my dissertation, I would have read this book as it provides a great big picture view of Florida panther recovery.

Cat Tale is a quick read for a nonfiction fiction (it is even a quick read compared to a novel of the same length). The last 15-20% is bibliography, chapter notes, and an index. But the story itself is filled with colorful characters and sometimes nearly impossible to believe plot twists.

Most of the people Pittman mentions I knew by name, having read their published scientific papers. But he gave me personal insight into who these people are - their personalities, professional motivations, and even some personal conflict with other colleagues involved in the panther recovery. I even a glimpse at someone who served on my Ph.D. committee. If I knew he had served on the Scientific Review Team, I had forgotten.

Personally, I was really was interested in the "behind the scenes" information surrounding what I called "Maehr scandal". When I was working on my dissertation it was kind of still unfolding - at least the ramifications weren't fully known at the time. My concern wasn't so much about whether he played fast and loose with the data but whether his not fully supported (scientifically) theories on panther habitat would impact panther recovery. Of course, I was curious at the time as to why (and how) this could happen, but I didn't have the time to chase the story. So it was nice to have the "holes" in my knowledge of the story filled in. Pittman did note that Maehr died before he could interview him for the book, and while I feared at the beginning of this section that Maehr would be vilified without the ability to defend himself. However, I think Pittman gave him a fair shake by providing plenty of evidence from personal communications Maehr had with others, public records, and published interviews. While he did speculate on why Maehr did what he did, and could back up his conclusion, he left room for other possible reasons.

I'm happy to see that despite the ethical, environmental, and economic concerns (the topic of my dissertation), not to mention the political machine, the Florida panther is recovering from those early dire predictions when less than 20 panthers were suspected to have remained in Florida.

If you are interested in Florida panthers (or predator recovery), conversation efforts, or how science and politics work together (or not), then I definitely recommend picking up Craig Pittman's book.

I received a free electronic ARC of this excellent history of the Florida Panther from Netgalley, Craig Pittman, and Hanover Square Press. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this work of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. I am pleased to recommend Craig Pittman to friends and family. He shares with us the sad and interesting record of the ups and downs - mostly downs - of the existence of the Florida panther. Again their numbers are expected to be small but there are still some out there - at least for the next little bit. Looking at Washington policies of today, we haven't learned much over all these years... The ones who will bear the brunt of this short-sighted attitude will be the usual - Sandhill Cranes, Florida puma, the Manatee.

Terrific! This is both a saga of the effort to save the Florida panther and an expose of the greed and craziness that surrounds it. Oh, and it's a hoot. Florida is home to many many things- wild life, wild weather, wild people- and all it them converge here. You'll learn something, you'll shake your head in dismay, and you will chuckle. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. For those concerned with environmental issues and for fans of Carl Hiaasen and Randy Wayne White. I worry this won't get the readership it deserves.

Big cats are my favorite and I really enjoyed this book. The writing is very informal, Pittman giving a lot of information about Florida's puma subspecies as well as some asides and tidbits about the people and the places of the story. Very digestible for the causal reader. Thanks to NetGalley and Hanover Press for the eARC.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC!

Readers are encouraged to pay attention to the subtitle of Craig Pittman’s Cat Tale: the wild, weird battle to save the Florida panther – because there is a great deal of weird to be found within the pages of this book. Like other similar titles (William Stolzenburg’s Heart of a Lion, for instance) Pittman lays out the relevant facts about panther the panther’s biology, ecology, and habitat. He traces the panther’s story from its days as a tragically understudied state animal, to near extinction, to revitalization through breeding with imported Texas panthers, to the dispersal of males that scientists hope will establish new pockets of panthers and claim new territories throughout the Southeast.

However, the focus of this book is much less on the panthers themselves than on the passionate, sometimes bizarre, and often combative personalities that fought to save them – or created barriers for those who were working to save them. Readers will learn about scientists who jettisoned their data in order to cede protected lands over to developers, about government agencies that failed to demarcate land that needed saving, and about science revolving around genetic unsoundness that failed to gain traction and led to failed (and rather tragic) captive breeding attempts. Pittman writes, “I have read that some people claim that the return of wolves to Yellowstone National Park is the greatest conservation victory in US history. Compared with what it took to reel panthers back from oblivion, though, I don’t think so.” Thanks to his writings, it is hoped that readers will now know about this conservation battle – its victors, its victims – and hopefully conservation efforts will increase as a result.

Wow, what a book! I moved to Florida in 2002 and from 2004-2010 I worked for one of the tribes mentioned in the book and had some first hand experience assisting with telemetry tracking of FP 124 for a bit before other folks took over. Suffice to say I heard a lot of the gossip and opinions of folks behind the scenes but didn't quite piece together everything as I was a relative newbie to the area and still a fledgling biologist not long out of college. Over the years I've hurrahed at the success of the panther finally moving northward a bit and the boom in population, though I did not quite realize just how perilously close the animal came to extinction. I mean, I knew it, but not quite knew it---and the fact that I came to south Florida at the cusp of the boom of both SW Florida expansion and the panther population. The worst of the panther issue seemed be 20 year prior but after reading this it was much closer to my time working in the central 'glades than I knew.

Times change but government bureaucracy doesn't and sometimes I wonder if we are any better off now than we were then in regards to the panther. I've since moved back to Texas but keep tabs on the panther updates from afar. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it vindicated a few people in my eyes that had been vilified back in the day but I also wanted to reach through time and throttle Dave Maehr. Stunning how the panther is still paying for the repercussions on his selfish judgments.

Excellent book, loved it!.

Fascinating read about the comeback of the nearly extinct Florida panther . Told with witt and passion you will be amazed at the shadiness of some people and nobility of others . I love Florida and abundant wildlife there .This story takes you right to the heart of what it takes to save a species

Enjoyable read, but the writer adds in to many snarky and/or cutesy asides. They just have no place in a non-fiction work, even though it was billed as, "but its Florida so of course there are characters!". I found his references to Animal House and use of exclamation points to be a distraction and not worthy of the subject matter. Interesting subject matter and seemingly well researched history, but the sarcasm made this reader question the content.

Raise your hand if you knew Florida was home to an endangered panther population.

After spending the majority of my life thinking the name of the Florida Panthers hockey team was a bizarre non sequitur, I knew as soon as I saw this book on NetGalley that I had to request it. Cat Tale does not disappoint: it's a bizarre and unexpected look into the long fight to save Florida's state animal, a creature that many developers and politicians would prefer to see either shot or pushed out of its territory by land construction.

Craig Pittman tackles the tale of the panthers with an ear for puns and a clear relish for the strange twists and turns the fight takes. His breezy storytelling turns what could have been an incredibly grim topic into a light, even fun affair as he winds through the preservation history's blunders and successes. It's not all perfect for either the reader or the panthers: the amount of bureaucracy Pittman details towards the end of the book is both distressing and taxing to get through. Unfortunately it wouldn't be a story of an endangered species without an endless parade of suits attempting to justify their detrimental actions towards it, something Pittman is coyly aware of throughout the narrative.

Recommended if you've never heard of this obscure subspecies for sure.

**I was given a copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to HARLEQUIN – Trade Publishing (U.S. & Canada)**

Cat Tale by Craig Pittman is the story of efforts to bring the Florida panther back from the brink of extinction. He begins his account by introducing readers to these felines. The puma sports many different names in different locales: cougar, catamount, mountain lion, tiger, and panther. The habitats where this all-American cat lives are as varied as its moniker: rainforests, deserts, forests, swamps, even the famous sign overlooking Hollywood. These big cats are made for the hunt: their lightweight skeletons and powerful muscles allow them to jump 45 feet horizontally and 15 feet up, and long hind legs give them the ability to “fly” out of nowhere upon unsuspecting prey.

Like other apex predators, pumas are vital for a healthy ecosystem: controlling prey animal populations and leaving over some of their kills, thus providing food for other creatures and enabling nutrients to return to the soil. Once plentiful, puma subspecies made their homes throughout the Americas from coast to coast. However, fear of these animals on the part of settlers, ranchers, and farmers caused pumas to be hunted out of existence in much of the United States. There is only one state east of the Mississippi River where they live: Florida, where the cats are called panthers.

Since the 1950s, Florida panthers have made themselves at home in the Everglades, but their numbers were declining elsewhere: in the following decade, the Florida state animal was in dire straits. This reality did not stop officials from planning to build a massive airport at the Big Cypress swamp without concern for habitat loss. However, a coalition of advocates, joined by the 78-year-old Marjory Stoneman Douglas, author of Everglades: River of Grass, successfully fought the proposed project. (This action was the beginning of Douglas’ thirty-year career as an environmental activist at an age when most people have long since retired.) Following this success, Big Cypress joined the national parks system as a preserve: a designation that would allow the hunters who were part of the coalition to continue using the area but forbid development.

Now that panther protection had become a reality, it was time to look for the felines to determine how many existed or even if any were left at all. To this end, a diverse cast of characters became part of the Florida Game Commission’s big cat team, including:

• Roy McBride, a Texan who initially hired himself out to ranchers as a cougar hunter to protect their livestock. He became more interested in protecting his former targets, earned a Master’s in biology, and joined the FGC team to look for the cats and share his expertise.

• Melody Roelke, a veterinarian who helped captive breed cheetahs in Oregon. Because of her experience with big cats, she came aboard to protect panthers during capture and radio collaring operations. Her concern about the panthers’ lack of genetic diversity eventually led to a solution.

• Deborah Jansen, a biologist officially working with crocodiles and alligators who went out with the panther team at every opportunity. A dedicated, tireless professional who, unlike many others who moved on or retired over time, still works in the field.

• Dave Maehr, the third leader of the panther team. He improved the group’s reputation, published many reports (even though it was Roelke who did the vital research), and eventually switched from protector to consultant for developers seeking permission to build on protected land.

However, the efforts of these devoted cat lovers faced obstacles: from money-hungry developers who saw huge profits in paving over habitats to build cities and even a university; political figures kowtowing to big business over the scientifically sound objections of researchers; local governments favoring expanding highways cutting through panther land and endangering the felines as they tried to cross them; and even federal and state wildlife officials who undermined the efforts of their staffs to protect Florida’s big cats. Even as their plight became national news, these obstacles made professional and lay supporters alike fear for the future of the panther.

Craig Pittman makes no secret of his admiration of pumas. A journalist with the Tampa Bay Times who has written about panthers for over twenty years, the author uses his gift to tell the cats' story with a perfect blend of passion, objectivity, irony, and humor. Pittman, true to his profession, leaves no stone unturned. He takes us into the minds and hearts of all players, the good guys as well as the villains. Readers cannot help but share the frustrations, dreams, outrage, and exhilaration experienced by those who have dedicated their lives and careers to ensuring that America’s big cat rises above its challenges and will be around for generations to admire and enjoy. A truly inspiring work that, like American Wolf: a True Story of Survival and Obsession in the West by Nate Blakeslee, packs an environmental punch.

I read a few chapters of this book and it was not compelling enough to finish. The content of the book did not motivate me to finish reading it.

This is excellent. Pittman is a master at telling a good tale and transitioning between stories and info with a splash of humor. This has the flavor of a fictional story at times. Recommended! 4.5 stars

I enjoyed reading this book about the Florida panthers. Informational in so many ways! Sad that its return was almost marred by unscrupulous developers, politicians and others.

Wild And Maddening. In this all-too-real tale, Pittman does an excellent job of showing the history of the Florida Panther, how the sub-species came to the brink of extinction, and how government officials bungled the attempt at saving them before begrudgingly doing what it took to save the sub-species. Outstanding work bringing to light an amazing story of the perils of human intervention into natural systems - and how humans can occasionally do something right by those natural systems. Very much recommended.

You've got to get this book!! It hooks you on the first page and doesn't let go.. It is definitely a page turner! Thank you HARLEQUIN – Trade Publishing (U.S. & Canada) Hanover Square Press via NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.