Florida's rebounding panther population is leading to more human interactions. A record 31 Florida panthers died in 2014, and most were killed by moving vehicles. Wildlife authorities also saw a record number of panther attacks on pets and livestock.
Darrell Land of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says the Florida panther population is five times what it was 30 years ago. He credits conservation efforts, especially a breeding program. "The small number of panthers that we had were getting severely inbred", explained Land. "So we implemented a genetic restoration program where we brought in some females from a different panther population in Texas and brought them in to Florida to revitalize the gene pool."
Land says 30 years ago there were just a few dozen panthers in Florida, and human interactions were very rare.
He says the population today is bigger than at any other time in 100 years.
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