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Remains of two female panther kittens were found Sunday on a road in South Florida, bringing the statewide death toll this year to 12, state wildlife officials said.
The incident happened in South Florida's Collier County, near Naples, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Each kitten was 3 1/2 months old. Lisa Thompson, a commission spokesperson, referred to the panthers as siblings in an email to TheNews on Wednesday and said officials suspect that both were killed in a vehicle collision.
Incidents involving cars are usually the cause of panther deaths in Florida, the wildlife commission's shows. Of the deaths that appear in the 2025 log, all but one are attributed to vehicle strikes. The cause of death for the one not killed in a vehicle strike is listed as "Intraspecific Aggression."
Florida panthers are the only mountain lion subspecies that currently exists in the eastern United States, . As the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service , the animal initially appeared on the federal government's list of endangered species in 1967, when hunting had nearly eradicated the population. Florida's wildlife commission between 120 and 230 adult panthers now exist in southern parts of Florida, after decades with protected status that makes it illegal to hunt or kill them.
"The FWC encourages motorists to slow down and observe all posted speed limits, especially in panther zones, which are in place in several counties across South Florida and coincide with areas where panthers are known to cross," Thompson said. "These panther speed zones help ensure the survival of the endangered Florida panther and protect motorists from personal injury."
Wildlife officials have asked Florida residents to contact the commission's alert hotline if they come across a panther that is dead, injured or ill, as they try to safeguard the species.
are down this year in Florida. The state's 2024 total by the end of December, according to the wildlife commission. However, the commission had recorded just 16 of those deaths by this time last August. The commission attributed 30 of that year's deaths to vehicles, and at least one of them involved a train accident. The 2024 death toll was Florida's highest since 2018, officials said.
