2023-11-14 14:27:23
First it was a young male panther, no older than three years. He was hit and killed by a vehicle Nov. 6 in Hendry County.
Then it was a female, younger than five. She was struck and killed — one day later — in Glades County.
And then came Nov. 12, a Sunday.
This time, in Hendry County once more, it was a three-year-old male on County Road 833 that succumbed to his injuries following being hit by a vehicle. Later that day, a four-year-old male died in Collier County to the south. Also killed by a vehicle.
All told, four endangered Florida panthers were killed over the past week in the deadliest span since September 2021, when three panthers were hit and killed on the same day.
One third of this year’s panther death toll occurred over the single week, according to mortality data maintained by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Twelve panthers have now died so far this year, all from vehicle strikes. That compares to 27 panther deaths last year (of which 92% died from vehicle strikes) and 27 in 2020 (77% dead from vehicles).
“The FWC encourages motorists to slow down and observe all posted speed limits, especially in panther zones, which are in place in several counties across South Florida and coincide with areas where panthers are known to cross,” the wildlife agency wrote in a prepared statement.
A Florida panther fitted with a radio collar is released into the Picayune Strand Restoration Project near Naples in 2013.
[ U.S. ARMY | /Planet Pix via ZUMA Wire ]
Vehicle collisions are the primary cause of death for Florida panthers, according to the wildlife agency.
“These panther speed zones help ensure the survival of the endangered Florida panther and protect motorists from personal injury,” the agency wrote.
Florida’s wildlife agency estimates there are between 120 and 230 adult panthers left. Nearly 98% of panthers reside south of the Caloosahatchee River, but have been found as far north as Georgia in the past. In 2017, Florida wildlife biologists confirmed they found Florida panther kittens north of the Caloosahatchee for the first time in decades.
As the Florida’s population grows, viable habitat for panthers to thrive continues to shrink. One 2015 analysis by researchers with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service claimed the Florida panther is now restricted to less than 5% of its historic range, which once stretched throughout the Southeast.
The Florida panther has been on the federal endangered species list since 1967. Students voted in 1982 to name the Florida panther the state animal.
Uncollared Florida panther 435 was stuck by a car and killed in December in Hillsborough County, according to Florida wildlife officials. It was the first panther death in Hillsborough County since 2003.
[ Courtesy of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission ]
In December, a 2-year-old male panther was killed in Hillsborough County following a white car struck the panther and its driver alerted authorities.
The animal survived on the side of the road for regarding 15 minutes before succumbing to internal injuries from the collision, according to Dave Onorato, a panther research scientist with the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute. It was the first time a panther was killed in Hillsborough County since 2003.
“Today, the panther is recognized as Florida’s official state animal, but it is also one of the most endangered mammals in the country,” the nonprofit Defenders of Wildlife writes regarding the animal on its website.
“Panthers are an umbrella species: protecting them and the vast, unspoiled, wild territory each one needs to survive — an average of 200 square miles for a single male — protects many other plants and animals that live there,” the nonprofit wrote.
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