Even though 2024 isn’t over, official representations show that more endangered Florida panthers have died this year than in all of 2023.
Eleven of the Fourteen deaths in 2024 were caused by automobiles, and one was because of a train. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s report shows that two other deaths had unknown causes.
“I feel like there are so many solutions that are not being explored to keep these endangered species the same in their environments,” said Isabella Diaz-Torres, a freshman.
Only 120 to 230 adult panthers are remaining in Florida, according to experts. Elise Bennett, director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Florida and Caribbean region, states that the majority live in South Florida. People noted that almost all of the reason so many of the endangered cats are killed is due to factors like increasing human populations and increased vehicle traffic in the panther’s small habitat.
It is extremely dangerous because of the expanding human population, infrastructure, roads, buildings, increased traffic, and faster speeds. This is all occurring directly in the middle of the Florida panthers’ final surviving inhabited habitat.
Even though there have been more panther deaths this year than last, the number of panther deaths is still modest. There were 27 annual panther deaths in 2021 and 2022. 22 panthers died in 2020 and the low number of panther deaths in 2023 is unclear.
“I find it so sad that we are losing the animals and, in most cases, it is because of humans,” said Ana Buitrago, freshman.
There is an ongoing conservation effort to save the panther species. Many have stated that three separate populations of 240 adult panthers each would be required for the species to no longer be classified as endangered. In a perfect scenario, panthers would be free to move between the three groups, traveling across the state to their historic homes in Georgia and north Florida without facing any danger.
These problems need to be fixed or else there might not be any more Florida panthers living in the wild in the future.
