Officials: Florida panther struck and killed by vehicle

Author: AP
Published:
Credit: WINK News.

An endangered Florida panther has died after being struck by a vehicle.

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, it’s the sixth panther death attributed to fatal collisions, out of six total deaths this year.

FWC said that the remains of the 5-year-old male panther were found Tuesday along a rural road just east of the Okaloacoochee Slough State Forest in Hendry County.

According to state records, a total of 27 Florida panthers were found dead last year, with 21 deaths attributed to vehicles. That was up from 22 total deaths in 2020.

Florida panthers once roamed the entire Southeast, but now their habitat mostly is confined to a small region of Florida along the Gulf of Mexico. Up to 230 Florida panthers remain in the wild.

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