Bears in Florida will be having a bad week in October thanks to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) approval of a bear hunt Wednesday. This hunt is Florida’s first in more than two decades. It aims to control increasing bear populations and human-to-bear conflict.
WHY THE FWC APPROVED THE BEAR HUNT
According to the FWC, hunting supports keeping population size in check, fewer bears being pushed into neighborhoods and increasing wariness and fear of humans. Bears were removed from Florida’s threatened species list in 2012. About 300 bears are expected to be killed by an unlimited number of permitted hunters. Florida has an estimated 3,150 black bears in four regions — the eastern Panhandle, Northeast Florida, east-central Florida and South Florida — where the hunts would be conducted, according to the Panama City New Herald. The numbers are based on 2002 estimates for the eastern Panhandle and South Florida, and a 2014 count in the Northeast Florida and east-central Florida regions.
RULES OF THE BEAR HUNT
Bear permits are $100 for Florida residents and $300 for non-residents, according to the FWC. Permit sales end midnight on the night before the seven-day hunting season, which begins Oct. 24 and runs until the 30th. There is a chance that the bear hunt could end earlier—if the harvest objective is reached. The limit is one bear per person per season with a 100-lb minimum. Hunters are prohibited from shooting bears with cubs present.
THE OPPOSING SIDE OF THE BEAR HUNT
While some people are submitting permit requests for next month’s bloody show, others are opposing the upcoming bear hunt. Kate MacFall, Florida state director for The Humane Society of the United States, said in a statement, “By sanctioning a trophy hunt on bears in lieu of effective solutions on human-bear conflicts, the FWC has ignored sound science, responsible wildlife management and the majority of Floridians who oppose a hunt on this highly vulnerable and rare sub-species of bear, found nowhere else in the world outside its range.” She said the society will continue to oppose the hunt, which she says is unjustified and will likely lead to inhumane practices like hounding and baiting in the near future.
Bolton-Jorbert, a speaker at the commission, noted Florida’s increased human population is expanding into wildlife habitat. He and other speakers stressed that the state should further implement non-lethal rules, such as bear-proofing trash containers, prohibiting people from feeding wild bears and cracking down on the illegal harvesting of saw palmetto berries, which is a staple of a bear’s diet.
A petition to stop the bear hunt has been gathering hundreds of signatures.
