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Panther found dead in Collier County a mystery
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A 9-year-old male panther was found dead this morning in a palmetto patch northwest of State Road 29 and Oil Well Road, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The carcass has been sent to a wildlife veterinarian who works for Walt Disney World in Orlando to determine the cause of death, Conservation Commission associate research scientist Dave Onorato said.
Onorato said the panther showed no signs of a vehicle collision, an attack by another panther or foul play. It could have died of natural causes or disease, Onorato said.
The panther was found after panther trackers on a monitoring flight detected the panther's radio collar emitting a signal indicating that he had been still for two hours.
The panther, known as FP131, had been known to roam from the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, cross Oil Well Road and head north up the Camp Keais Strand, a cypress slough on the edge of Ave Maria, a planned 5,000-acre town and Catholic university.
A planned widening of Oil Well Road near Ave Maria includes two tunnels that will allow Florida panthers and other wildlife to cross beneath the road safely.
FP131 is the fifth documented panther death so far this year and the third in five days. A panther was killed in a collision with a vehicle along State Road 29 over the weekend. On Monday, a panther was found dead in the Bird Rookery Swamp unit of the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed in northern Collier County. The death was blamed on an attack by another panther.
In 2007, 15 panthers were killed on Florida roads, breaking the previous record of 11, set in 2006. The Florida panther is one of the most endangered animals on the planet, with only 80 to 100 left.
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Could it be the panther just died. No. There is no such thing as a panther dying from natural causes. Let's spend several thousand on CSI Disney and somehow find someone to blame. We don't have money for schools, roads etc but always have money for this. Maybe if we spend a few million on another underpass we can clear our conscience.
#1 Posted by swampbuggy on April 16, 2008 at 10:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Not motive, job security and $. 82,000 specialty plates sold last year, at over $25 a pop, and top selling for last 5 years.......you do the math.
#2 Posted by swamp4u2 on April 17, 2008 at 12:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Maybe it was traumatized and died from something it witnessed at Ava Maria...
#3 Posted by Jadip811 on April 17, 2008 at 4:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Was it a panther or a Texas Cougar???, they need to change their tagging prefixes from FP to TC.......
#4 Posted by lswjth2 on April 17, 2008 at 7:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)
They probably put a shock collar on it by mistake.
#5 Posted by cousinjed on April 17, 2008 at 8:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
That's some good panther meat right there!...
#6 Posted by CutthroatConservative on April 17, 2008 at 8:27 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I blame the death of this poor animal on the people who built Ava Maria in the middle of it's home grounds. Way to go murders!!!!!!
#7 Posted by MadMike on April 17, 2008 at 8:45 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Quit waisting my time and money with panther issues. All this money to protect a cat. Every animal, and everybody eventually ends up dead! Build more underpasses, but don't finish putting gaurdrails up the ENTIRE length of Alligator Alley to keep vehicles out of the canal! I'm at a loss.....
#8 Posted by Flacrkr on April 17, 2008 at 9:07 a.m. (Suggest removal)
From reading the above comments, does one really have to wonder why the earth is one huge dump?
#9 Posted by mattmaki on April 17, 2008 at 11:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)
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