Record FL Panthers Killed In Vehicle Crashes

FLORIDA — For the first time in eight years, Florida panthers are dying in record numbers.

The death toll for Florida panthers, the state animal, has surpassed 30 as the native wildcats as young as 4 weeks old are being killed in vehicle accidents and predator attacks. On Tuesday, 32 panthers had been killed.

The former was the leading cause of Florida panther deaths this year, with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reporting 25 panthers have been killed by vehicle.

Vehicles were also the major cause of death of panthers in 2016, when 42 total panthers were killed, commission data showed.

This year, a 2-year-old panther was killed by a train in February in Glades County, while predators took the lives of two Hendry County baby panthers on Sept. 3. The causes of death for the four remaining panthers are unknown.

Traci Deen, president and CEO of Conservation Florida, told Spectrum News that overdevelopment is the issue. She noted the push of Florida panthers from the southwest region has made its conservation a central concern.

“We think, 'Oh, that’s an Everglades issue,’ or ‘Man, that’s very far away from where we are here in Central Florida.’ But it’s actually not. We have panthers here. We have panthers crossing our highway here," Deen told Spectrum News.

“Seeing Florida panthers north of the Caloosahatchee River is awesome news, but when they are trying to travel and find a mate and be here in their native habitat, we are seeing more and more and more deaths."

The majority of the panther deaths occurred in Collier County, but Lee and Broward counties have also seen such deaths, according to commission data.

Collier led panther deaths in 2023 when all 13 panthers died in vehicle crashes, data showed. The southwest Florida county houses 15 cities, including Naples, Everglades City and Plantation Island, and sits about 87 miles south of Fort Myers.

In 2022 and 2021, 27 panthers were killed in Florida.

The conservation commission said of Florida's two native cat species, panthers are larger than the state's bobcats. There are at least 120-230 adult panthers in population, state officials said.

"Florida panthers have been documented throughout much of the peninsula and even into Georgia. The core population, however, is found south of Lake Okeechobee," state officials said.

Panthers are protected under the Endangered Species Act, making it illegal to hurt or harass them, state officials said.

Aside from deaths, the conservation commission said it is analyzing a disorder in some Florida panthers that is causing leg weakness and prompting difficulty in walking.