16 of the 23 Florida Cougars killed in 2010 were by automobiles......................We need better and more extensive animal road crossing protections in Florida...............We need more land for Cougars in Florida to roam unharrassed............and finally, based on the burgeoning human population of the Sunshine State, the time likely has arrived for a % of the Florida CAT population to be transplanted and "RE-WILDED" in the Smokies, other suitable Appalacian and Gulf Coast State locales

Third dead panther in five days found in Eastern Collier County

NAPLES — A female panther was found dead today on agricultural land north of the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Collier County.
The uncollared panther, about 1 1/2 years old and about 45 pounds, had been killed in an attack with another panther, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission biologists reported.
Three panthers have been found dead in Southwest Florida since Sunday, bringing the total number of panther deaths so far this year to 23, including 16 killed in collisions with vehicles.
On Sunday, wildlife biologists recovered a dead 9-month-old male panther along County Road 846 in Hendry County east of Immokalee. It had been hit by a vehicle, biologists said.
Biologists recovered the carcass of a 5-year-old male panther Wednesday on Lee County Port Authority mitigation land north of Corkscrew Road in Lee County.
The panther was sent to the Conservation Commission wildlife research lab in Gainesville for a necropsy to determine a cause of death