Two Florida panthers were found dead last Friday in Collier and Hendry counties in Southwest Florida. One was a female that was killed in traffic and the other was an older male who died of unknown causes. With these two deaths, 29 panthers have died so far this year, and 22 of them have been killed by cars.
Florida panthers are considered some of the most endangered mammals on the planet - there are as few as 100 of them left here.
Dave Onorato, an associate research scientist at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in Naples, says these numbers actually show improvement in the population despite traffic deaths and habitat loss.
“When you look at the numbers that way, it paints a very negative picture, but over the past 10 years there’s been a steady increase in the population of panthers,” he said.
Onorato says the best way the public can help is by buying “Support the panthers” Florida license plates. He says almost all of the funding for his work comes from sales of these plates.
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