1-year-old rare apex predator found dead in Florida, the species’ first death of 2025
The first Florida panther death of 2025 has been recorded after a vehicle hit and killed a 1-year-old male.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission estimates the endangered panther killed was close to turning 2.
The death was discovered Jan. 10 on a particularly deadly corridor of Immokalee Road east of Oil Well Grade Road in Collier County, according to Panther Pulse.
In 2024, three panthers were killed on Immokalee Road, including a 10-year-old panther found less than half a mile from where the most recent juvenile male was discovered, the database shows.
This juvenile male died just over two weeks after another panther’s death was documented in the state. The already rare species endured a hard year in 2024 with 36 deaths, most of which came from vehicle strikes, McClatchy News reported.
Young male panthers, which roam large territories, are more likely to be killed by vehicles, according to FWC researchers. Male panthers younger than 3 years old make up nearly 70% of road strike deaths.
The issue has gotten worse in the last 25 years, the FWC says. Before 2000, fewer than four panthers died each year from vehicle strikes. Conservationists implemented a few solutions, but the most effective — and expensive one — is wildlife crossings, they say.
The first wildlife crossings to funnel animals into protected routes as they tried to cross roads were added in Collier County, where half of 2024’s panther deaths occurred, according to the FWC.
Collier County includes the Naples metropolitan area.