Feed on
Posts
Comments

Future looks bleak for panthers

The Naples Daily News reported that a Florida panther was killed in a collision with a truck on Corkscrew Road in Lee County. The panther was killed 300 feet from an underpass that was constructed to avoid such accidents. So far in 2006, eight panthers have died in vehicle collisions.

Despite this horrible statistic, Chris Belden, panther recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service told the paper, “Death is not as important as the loss of habitat to development.”

Development in Southwest Florida is rapidly expanding eastward into panther habitat. There is not enough open space in south Florida to create a population of panthers that could sustain itself long-term. There are an estimated 80 to 100 panthers remaining in Florida.

“The future looks bleak for panthers in Lee County,” concluded Darrel Land, panther team leader for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Comments RSS

Leave a Reply