NAPLES, Fla. (AP) - Officials say a Florida panther has been found dead from an apparent vehicle strike in southwest Florida.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reports that the adult female cat's body was found Wednesday on State Road 29 in Collier County. The location was 2.3 miles south of Oil Well Road, in the area of the Sunniland Mine entrance.
The remains will be taken to a Gainesville facility for a necropsy.
A total of 37 Florida panthers have been found dead in 2016, with 29 road fatalities.
Florida panthers once roamed the entire southeastern U.S., but only around 180 remain in the wild.
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