As European settlers arrived in the 1600s, they clear-cut the land so they could
grow crops. Today much of the area has been urbanized. The cutting of trees and
building of roads and cities fragmented the panther's habitat. It reduced large,
connected habitats to smaller, less connected areas. The panther was also hunted to
protect livestock.
In 1967, the Florida panther was listed as an endangered species by the United
States government and conservation efforts began. Conservation efforts included
protecting and connecting panther habitats and making it illegal to hunt these large
cats. In the early 1970s, there were approximately 20 adult wild panthers in southern
Florida. Conservation efforts resulted in there being almost 200 in the same area in
2014. Despite the increase in numbers, Florida panthers still face many dangers. For
example, 24 panthers were killed by cars while trying to cross roadways in 2014. Can you deconstruct these two paragraphs for me?