COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. (AP) — An endangered Florida panther has been struck and killed by a vehicle.
It’s the third fatal collision this year, out of three total panther deaths.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said Tuesday that the remains of the 2-year-old male were collected Saturday near a Naples country club, east of Interstate 75.
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.