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CLEWISTON, Fla. - Three endangered Florida panthers, including two kittens, have been struck and killed by a vehicles in Southwest Florida already this month.
They're the fifth, sixth, and seventh fatal collisions this year, accounting for all panther deaths.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says the remains of the 3-year-old female were collected in Hendry County Friday, along County Road 835 near Dooley Grade Road, approximately 18 miles south of Clewiston. The 5-month-old male kitten's body was discovered in the same area the next day.
Then on Monday, a 4-month-old male kitten was found dead in Collier County, along County Road 846 near Stockade Road, just south of Immokalee.
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.
