More endangered Florida panthers have died in 2024 so far than all of last year: "These roadkills are heartbreaking"

The 2024 calendar is not even at its halfway point but more endangered Florida panthers have died this year than in all of 2023, according to state statistics. 

Of the 14 deaths in 2024, 11 involved vehicles and another was killed by a train. Two other deaths were of an "unknown" cause, according to statistics from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. 

Experts say only between 120 and 230 adult panthers are left in Florida. Most live in South Florida, according to Elise Bennett, the Florida and Caribbean director at the Center for Biological Diversity. Factors like growing human populations and higher vehicular traffic in the panthers' limited habitat are part of the reason why so many of the endangered cats are killed, Bennett said.