Orangetown Approves Funding for Two Weeks of Panther Tracking and Six Cameras
At 7 o’clock on July 28 Supervisor Kleiner and three members of the Town Board — Marie Manning, Nancy Low-Hogan and Michael Maturo — appeared at Town Hall for a special meeting called by Kleiner to consider a proposal dealing with the panther problem in the community of Palisades. The proposal, submitted by Carol Baxter, Susan Nemesday, Milbry Polk and Dana Stangel-Plowe on June 24, asked for funds to monitor the suspected black panthers for a month with the help of eight cameras. Tracking would be done by Shane Hobel, a member of Tracker SFI team; the proposal also included money for two traps. The total cost was $6000, $2500 for cameras, traps and equipment, and $3500 for a month of tracking and monitoring the cameras.
Thom Kleiner began the well-attended meeting by stating that because of the number of credible sightings and the possible danger to children posed by the animals, the Town wanted to address the issue and alleviate the fears of the community.
However, he suggested that the work could be done and funded in stages. He had spoken to Bill Marple, head tracker at Tracker SFI, who felt that this was possible. Thom’s idea was to concentrate on two weeks of tracking and six cameras to begin with.
Bill Marple gave a short summary of the history of the Palisades panthers and told the board members that all five members of the Tracker SFI team, based the evidence collected by Shane Hobel, were convinced of the presence of a large cat in the area. Shane has been volunteering his services for several months to track the animal.
Bill answered a few questions and explained that the trackers need to take an inventory of where the animal has been and what its habits are. Because big cats have a range of 25 to 30 miles, it’s important to establish that the cat is still around. After two weeks, they might know enough to set up the two traps and the other cameras, and Palisades could re-apply for additional finding to cover this.
Shane explained that the cameras will be set up on game trails, not where people are likely to be. If any are on private property permission will be obtained from the owner.
Thom presented a resolution authorizing the town to provide $3500, $1750 for a month of tracking and $1750 for the six cameras and associated equipment. The resolution was passed with four votes in favor. Shane agreed to send updates to the Town Board twice a week during the two-week period of panther monitoring.