COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. — Three endangered Florida panthers were killed by separate car collisions earlier this week.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says that makes 18 panther deaths attributed to fatal collisions, out of 24 total deaths this year.
Wildlife leaders say the remains of a 4-month-old male panther were found Tuesday within Big Cypress National Preserve in Collier County, and a 3-year-old male was found dead the same day on the western edge of the park.
Also Tuesday, the remains of a 10-year-old female were found just north of Southwest Florida International Airport in Lee County.
Florida panthers once roamed the entire Southeast, but now their habitat is confined to a small region of the state along the Gulf of Mexico, according to the Associated Press. Up to 230 Florida panthers remain in the wild.
