LABELLE, Fla. (AP) Officials say a Florida panther has been found dead from an apparent vehicle strike.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reports that the 3-year-old female cat’s body was found Monday near a rural road in Hendry County. The remains will be taken to a center in Gainesville for a necropsy.
A total of 13 Florida panthers have been found dead in 2017, with 10 road fatalities.
Florida panthers once roamed the entire southeastern United States, but only around 230 remain in the wild.