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PANTHER STRUCK BY I-95 MOTORIST
June 7, 2005
Contact: Karen Parker (386)
758-0525
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission (FWC) recovered the remains of a male panther that
was struck by a car on I-95 early Saturday morning on the
Flagler and St. Johns County Line.
FWC biologist Dave Turner picked up the cat’s
carcass and delivered it to the Wildlife Research Laboratory
in Gainesville where researchers conducted a necropsy Monday
morning.
FWC wildlife veterinarian Dr. Mark Cunningham
said, “The panther, known to scientists as UCFP74 (Un-Collared
Florida Panther), appeared to be a healthy, three-year-old
adult and weighed approximately 125 pounds. The animal had all
its claws and teeth and was in good condition.”
Cunningham said he found no tattoos or
transponder chip on the cat, which indicates scientists had
not encountered the panther previously. However, he said the
panther had suffered severe trauma to his back, which
undoubtedly would have damaged the chip if there were one.
“At any rate, the radiographs we took Monday
afternoon did not disclose the presence of a microchip,”
Cunningham said.
Biologists place transponder chips beneath the
skin of panther kittens that are handled in the den. They have
marked approximately one-third of panthers in south Florida in
this way.
“The age fits for a ‘dispersing’ male. This cat
probably wandered up from south Florida looking for females,”
Cunningham said. “This is the age when dispersing males can,
and often do, travel far and wide in search of new
territories. A young male from the Big Cypress would be
capable of reaching this area during dispersal.”
Panthers sometimes do stray north of the
Caloosahatchee River.
“This is the first time in more than 20 years
that we’ve had a confirmed panther in this area,” Chris
Belden, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist said. “In the
mid-1980s, we documented two males in the St. Johns Marsh from
Indian River County to Flagler County.”
Scientists tracked a radio-collared male panther
just southwest of Orlando back in 2000. Another panther died
in a collision with a vehicle at Tampa in 2003.
“Genetic tests will be performed on samples
taken from UCFP74 to unveil the cat’s origin, but these tests
generally take some time,” Cunningham said. “The bones and
hide will be deposited at the Florida State Museum of Natural
History.”
According to Cunningham, approximately five to
10 panthers are killed on south Florida roads annually.
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