NAPLES, Fla. (AP) — Wildlife officials say three Florida panthers have been killed so far this year.
Dave Onorato of the Florida Panther Project tells the Naples Daily News that one of the endangered panthers was found dead Saturday in Collier County.
Onorato says a vehicle fatally struck the 4-year-old female panther.
The animal’s carcass will be sent to a state wildlife research lab in Gainesville for a necropsy. The remains will be archived at the Florida Museum of Natural History.
Two male panthers have been found dead in separate parts of Collier County since Jan. 1.
State wildlife officials say 24 panthers were killed in 2011. Nine were killed by vehicle crashes.
Source: Naples Daily News, Associated Press
