ALVA, Fla. — Three endangered Florida panthers have died after being struck by vehicles over the past week.
They're the 12th, 13th and 14th panther deaths attributed to deadly collisions, out of 14 total deaths this year, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The remains of a 2-year-old male panther were found Monday on a rural road near Alva in Lee County, wildlife officials said. The remains of a 10-month-old female panther were found Saturday on a divided highway near the Southwest Florida International Airport in Lee County. The remains of a 2-year-old female panther were found last Tuesday near Fish Eating Creek Wildlife Management Area in Glades County.
The deaths are the latest in a string of tragic crashes. Just last month, the remains of a 2-year-old male panther were discovered near Lakeland.
Florida panthers once roamed the entire Southeast, but now their habitat mostly is confined to a small region of Florida along the Gulf of Mexico. Up to 230 Florida panthers remain in the wild.
Panthers are the larger of two native species of cats that are found across the sunshine state. Bobcats live here too.
According to the National Wildlife Federation, the panthers are a subspecies of the mountain lion. The Florida panther is distinguished by black marks on the tips of its ears, around the snout and on its tail, the NWF says.
They are generally 6-7-feet-long. The NWF says panthers are carnivorous and hunt a wide variety of prey, eating anything from deer and hogs to raccoons and even birds.