LABELLE, Fla. — Wildlife officials have reported the first Florida panther death of 2020.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says the 2-year-old female was found dead Thursday from an apparent vehicle strike just south of the Spirit-of-the-Wild Wildlife Management Area in Hendry County.
A total of 27 Florida panthers were reported killed in 2019, with 23 of those being from vehicle strikes.
The Associated Press last year reported up to 230 Florida panthers remain in the wild. 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.
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