Three elusive and endangered apex predators killed by vehicle in two weeks in Florida
Another endangered Florida panther has been found dead from a vehicle strike, the third death discovered in less than two weeks for a species that’s seen the most fatalities this year since 2016.
The male was 3½ years old and was found dead Dec. 10 in a rural area of Hardee County in Florida’s Heartland, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Panther Pulse.
The previous death occurred less than a week earlier in Glades County.
This year has been the deadliest for the rare Florida panther in eight years, McClatchy News reported, but at this rate won’t surpass the 42 deaths from 2016.
Biologists estimate only 120-230 panthers remain in the wild, so at the high end of that range, 33 deaths in one year represents nearly 15% of the population.
If only about 120 panthers remain, 33 deaths is more than a quarter of the population.
Panthers need a lot of room to roam, with males sometimes traversing 200 square miles of territory, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. But human development has broken up the panthers’ habitat, forcing them to cross roads that have been built in the areas they typically live.
Vehicle strikes are the leading cause of death for the Florida panther, experts say.
“Development, associated with an estimated 1,000 people moving to Florida every day, consumes and fragments panther habitat in southwestern Florida,” according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
These crossings can end in deadly interactions, but they often don’t in Hardee County, where a panther fatality hasn’t been documented since 2021, records show.
Most panthers of breeding age live in southwest Florida below the Caloosahatchee River and Lake Okeechobee, biologists say.
Hardee County is about a 60-mile drive east from Bradenton.
This story was originally published December 12, 2024 at 2:27 PM with the headline "Three elusive and endangered apex predators killed by vehicle in two weeks in Florida."