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(News-Press.com) -
 A Florida panther was
 hit and killed by a vehicle just north of the
Big Cypress Seminole Reservation in
Hendry County Tuesday, marking the
17th road kill this year.















The state record for road kill panther deaths is 18
(2012). Vehicle deaths are the No. 1 cause of
documented deaths for Florida panthers. A total of
 21 carcasses have been recovered by the state this
 year – the rest dying from intraspecies aggression,
 pneumonia, and an abdominal inflammation.
The uncollared female is thought to have been between
 3 and 4 years old and was found alongside County
 Road 833, which connects to the reservation to State
 Road 80 near Clewiston.
A total of 22 Florida panther deaths have been
 documented this year.
Most panthers killed by vehicles in recent years
 died in Collier County. Biologists say there are
more panthers in Florida than there have been in
 decades. There are also more people living in the
region. More people equals more cars equals more
 time on highways equals more panthers killed by
cars, the theory goes.