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The Guardian
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘Barbaric': wildlife advocates criticize Florida bear hunt proposal
It's tough to be a bear in Florida these days, where only a year ago a Republican state congressman was accusing the ursine population of shooting up crack cocaine and trashing people's houses. Then came a controversial new law that allows anybody to shoot and kill any bear perceived as a threat without fear of consequences, which animal advocates say could be bad news for any creature that inadvertently wanders into a back yard. Now wildlife officials have advanced plans for a three-week hunt in December that could see the slaughter of almost 200 black bears, close to 5% of Florida's estimated total. It is a proposal opponents are calling a trophy hunt based on bloodlust, not science, that would reintroduce long outlawed 'barbaric' practices including bear baiting, chasing and cornering the animals with packs of dogs, and killing them with bows and arrows. 'It's open season. It's just 'let's use everything we have against the bears now'. It completely blows my mind,' said Adam Sugalski, founder of Bear Defenders, a member of an alliance of wildlife and environmental groups urging members of the Florida fish and wildlife conservation commission (FWC) to reverse course ahead of a final decision in August. 'They already pulled every protection. You can't get in trouble for killing a bear, it seems, and now there's this unregulated hunt. I just kind of feel for these poor souls in the woods with no protections any more, and then they're about to release the hounds on them.' For Sugalski, and other groups including the Sierra Club's Florida chapter, the Animal Legal Defense Fund, and Defenders of Wildlife, there is more to the story than just emotion. The FWC, they say, is using outdated and incomplete data of bear numbers to justify the hunt and falsely insist the killings are necessary as a conservation measure. By the commission's own admission, the most recent tally of Florida's black bear population – an estimated 4,050 – took place more than 10 years ago, and the FWC has never put a cap on numbers beyond noting how many bears would be too many for available habitat and other resources. 'This is a rich man's hunt. It's not science-based conservation,' said James Scott, former chapter chair of the Sierra Club of Florida and campaign coordinator of the advocacy group Speak Up Wekiva. 'If we got to where bear populations were clearly exceeding the carrying capacity of any given unit, with the negative effects that come with that, that would be justification, a science-based, conservation-based approach to hunting. But they haven't got anywhere near justifying that. 'Instead you have some characters who have worked really hard framing hunting as a conservation tool, and some folks who have ingratiated themselves with commissioners. You also have a commission appointed by the governor, and most of them are land developers. 'So there are powerful interests that have a financial interest in limiting the growth of the bear population.' Scott noted that the FWC's existing bear management plan, updated in 2019, did not propose the reintroduction of hunting, and stated that bears were still listed as a threatened species in Florida as recently as June 2012. 'Fortunately, the Florida black bear population is growing. We have more bears now than at any time in the last 100 years, but our conservation efforts are not finished,' the document said. Also fresh in campaigners' memories is the debacle of the most recent Florida hunt in 2015, a planned week-long event that ended prematurely when more than 3,200 hunters descended on the state and massacred almost 10% of the state's bear population within two days. The eventual death toll of 305 included mothers, cubs and numerous bears below 100lbs, all of which were supposed to be off-limits. Some hunters were found to have illegally baited their targets, and 112 bears were killed in 24 hours in a region of the Florida panhandle where the cap was set at 40. FWC abandoned plans for hunts in subsequent years, until the proposal came up again this year for a 23-day event in December. The hunt, which was given preliminary approval in a 4-1 vote at a commission meeting earlier this month, seeks to 'remove' 187 bears across four zones, and hunters will pay $300 for a permit ($100 for a Florida resident), plus a $5 application fee. A petition launched by Bear Defenders to oppose it has more than 40,000 signatures. Commission officials point to a frequently answered questions page on the FWC website that says why a new bear hunt is required. 'There is a finite amount of suitable bear habitat, so if bear populations continue to grow unchecked, at some point bears will have to start living in more marginal habitats, like neighborhoods,' it said. 'Regulated bear hunting adds a positive value on bears by providing people with additional economic and recreational opportunities. Hunters can use the meat, pelt, fat and other parts of the bear they harvest. In contrast to all other current management action options, regulated hunting generates funding for conservation.' Scott said that the meat argument in particular is spurious. 'That's bullshit. Nobody eats bear meat, it's greasy and not a fun meat to eat,' he said. 'You've got to think about the money and power of the folks that want to hunt bears. They're trophy hunters, the kind of guys that can afford to go to Africa and mow down cheetahs and giraffes and lions and stuff. Let's not kid ourselves here, these guys just want to have a head on a wall.'
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Protests planned as FWC further considers implementing a black bear hunt this year
Next week, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission will be discussing how - and if - it should reimplement a black bear hunt this year. FWC released an initial proposal on how to carry one out last month, which would allow for up to 187 bear kills in December. If allowed, it would be the first time a bear hunt has been allowed in Florida in ten years. As a result, bear activists across the state are planning to protest in across the state this weekend, including in Jacksonville. The proposal is sparking a huge debate among locals, considering there were recently two black bear sightings in our area, and a deadly bear attack in Collier County. In the previous hunt held in 2015, hunters were given a limit of 320 bears total. However, the hunt had to be stopped because hunters killed 304 bears in just two days. This year, the proposal is for a three-week hunt where hunters would only be allowed to hunt in designated Bear Hunting Zones. Permits will also be awarded through a lottery system, rather than being sold without restriction like they were in 2015. FWC started discussing bringing back a bear hunt in December 2024, well before the state's first-ever deadly bear attack earlier this month that killed an 89-year-old. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] Supporters say a hunt could help better manage bear populations in residential areas. They also point to a voter-approved ballot measure in November that enshrined hunting and fishing rights in the state Constitution. 'It's bad for the state's image," said Adam Sugalski, executive director of the nonprofit One Protest. The protests this weekend are part of his nonprofit's Bear Defenders campaign. He says bear hunting in Florida is not necessary. 'People aren't really eating bears, we don't need fur rugs -It's trophy hunting. And bears are highly intelligent animals, some studies even place them as almost smart as great apes,' said Sugalski. 'And they're already having enough problems with overdevelopment in Florida." Next week's meeting will go over the proposed rules before a final vote is expected to be held in August. The Jacksonville protest this weekend will be held on Park Street in Riverside on Saturday from 11 am to 1 pm. St. Augustine will have a separate one at the same time on Cathedral Place. For information, locations, and times for each protest, click here. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
