ARCADIA, 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 3-year-old male cat's body was found Tuesday on a rural road in DeSoto County, east of Arcadia. The remains will be taken to a Gainesville facility for a necropsy.
A total of five Florida panthers have been found dead in 2017, with three road fatalities.
Florida panthers once roamed the entire southeastern U.S., but only around 230 remain in the wild.
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