Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to perform necropsy on panther carcasses

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will perform complete necropsies on the carcasses of two Florida panthers. The necropsies will take place in the commission’s research lab in Gainesville.

The panthers died over the weekend after being hit by cars and were later transported to Gainesville. The remains of the two panthers will be archived in the Florida Museum of Natural History.

Public Information Coordinator Karen Parker said the commission is studying panthers’ habitat and ways of living in order to increase the population in Florida.

“Numbers are very, very low,” she said. “Current estimated population runs between 100 to 160 panthers, so it’s not really a lot of animals to deal with.”