A pair of Florida panther kittens no more than 4 months old were found dead last weekend along Davis Boulevard in Collier County.
State panther experts believed the female kittens, each weighing about 30 pounds, were hit by a vehicle southwest of the Interstate 75 toll booth on Alligator Alley.
The toll both is about a quarter-mile from the southern boundary of the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, 26,400 acres established in 1989 under the Endangered Species Act as a haven for the last remaining group of panthers, which still roam the western Everglades.
Jason Totoiu, a Winter Haven-based attorney at the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity, said the deaths of the panthers, and other animals that roam over large areas, can be reduced if state lawmakers invest in wildlife crossings, which are animal-only over- or underpasses to avoid a roadway.
“I hope the kittens’ tragic deaths are a wake-up call to finally act,” Totoiu said. “It breaks my heart to learn that Florida has lost two more panthers, female kittens who should’ve been allowed to survive, have kittens of their own, and expand our sole, struggling population.”
Cars and trucks striking panthers crossing a roadway are, by far, the primary cause of death for Florida’s state animal.
The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission reminds motorists they must slow to the lower speed limit often posted in panther crossing zones, which are along rural roads throughout Southwest Florida where panthers are known to frequent.
Residential development over the decades is also squeezing the panther’s habitat ever smaller. Huge subdivisions such as Kingston broke ground this year in the midst of historic panther habitat, not far from where Golden Gates Estates did the same starting in the 1960s.
Every subdivision brings more roads, more cars, and more human interaction with panthers. Each also brings additional homes and condos that provide Florida’s burgeoning population with needed places to live.
The Florida Wildlife Commission says the female kittens were the 11th and 12th panthers killed this year, which is four fewer than the total killed at this time last year.
Panther experts put the current panther population near 100 animals.
Last year, three dozen panthers died in Southwest Florida, nearly all of them the result of vehicle strikes.
So far this year six panther deaths have been in Collier County, four in Hendry County, and one each in Lee and Pasco counties.
Environmental reporting for WGCU is funded in part by Volo Foundation, a nonprofit with a mission to accelerate change and global impact by supporting science-based climate solutions, enhancing education, and improving health.
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