18-05-2025
Is killing Florida bears a good way to control them?
Following Florida's first fatal bear attack this spring, there's little argument that the state's largest land mammal can be dangerous. But fierce debate persists over whether a good way to control bears is to kill them.
A state plan to resume bear hunting after a decade-long hibernation has deepened the discord in advance of a pivotal meeting of Florida's Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, a seven-member board appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Supporters suggest thinning the bear population is a 'science-based' approach to wildlife management, while foes note the last hunt in 2015 was little short of a management disaster.
The board meets Wednesday at the College of Central Florida in Ocala with options for an annual bear 'harvest,' the agency's term for a hunt, headlining the agenda.
FWC has logged more than 13,000 public comments about the hunt — 75% in opposition. The Orlando Sentinel reviewed hundreds of emailed comments to gauge the disagreement, then interviewed some of their authors.
'We have lots of bears. I feel like they're definitely overpopulated in our area,' said Windy Johnson, 49, a school teacher and hunt proponent who lives on 100 acres in Wakulla County, south of Tallahassee. 'At certain times they're so bad, you can drive down any road on any day at any time and see them. Folks can't keep them out of their trash.'
Hunt advocates suggest a limited bear season would deter run-ins between the animals and people.
But bear defenders argue that people have encroached into bear habitat — not the other way around.
Karen Murray, an Orlando resident who described herself as a hiker and wildlife lover in an email opposing the hunt, said bear-resistant trash containers have proven to be effective in thwarting bear incursions into neighborhoods. Employing that strategy, Seminole County has greatly diminished its state-leading number of bear-human encounters in recent years, even as conflicts have risen elsewhere in the state as bears have expanded their range.
Murray urged FWC to focus on 'humane, non-lethal strategies.'
Rules for Florida proposed bear hunt: 'It's going to be a massacre'
Many opposed to the hunt were terse.
'Lets not kill them, please,' wrote Richard Baker, who chairs an Audubon chapter in Indian River County.
'Unneeded, unwanted, solve's nothing, stop the consideration of this (hunt),' read another.
'The last 'highly regulated' bear hunt resulted in cubs shot and mother bears shot. This is an unnecessary effort to sanction more unnecessary killings. NO,' wrote Carolyn Kieler of Deland.
Pro-hunt emails called the state's black bear population 'unmanaged,' described it as 'well above the carrying capacity,' and blamed the rising bruin population for increased reports of conflicts and bear-vehicle collisions.
Those emails — many using identical language — claimed about 2,700 bears have been killed by vehicles over the last decade.
Some favoring a hunt cited the grisly death of an 89-year-old man, killed and partially eaten this month along with his dog by a 263-pound bear in Collier County in southwest Florida. FWC dubbed it the first fatal bear attack in Florida history.
Brent Palmer, 53, who lived in 10 states while serving in the U.S. military, said he has hunted bear in three states, Colorado, Montana and New York, and frequently crosses paths with them while hunting in Florida's Panhandle.
'I am 100% behind science-based hunting, fishing, and trapping regulations that allow the proper balance between animal populations and harvesting without degrading those populations,' he said. 'I am for a regulated bear hunt and expect the FWC biologists to determine the best numbers of bears based on habitat and other factors.'
But he also said Florida's last hunt was 'a debacle,' and he understands why the public might worry now.
In 2015, 304 bears were killed in just two days after permits were distributed to anyone who paid. Amid the chaos, the state shut down the hunt five days early, fearful that the death toll would soar past the harvest limit of 320.
Florida admits plan for December bear hunt, its first in a decade
Under the proposed rules, permits would be issued this time through a random drawing.
Eligible persons could apply an unlimited number of times, but each entry would cost $5.
Only one 'bear harvest' permit would be awarded per person.
A permit would cost $100 for a Florida resident, $300 for a non-resident.
In public hearings last month, FWC staff suggested a target take of fewer than 200 bears.
According to a document on the FWC agenda, George Warthen, the agency's chief conservation officer, will tell the board most U.S. states and Canadian provinces with black bears allow hunts 'and their populations are stable or increasing.'
Of the six states that don't allow bear hunting, Florida is estimated to have the most bears, over 4,000.
FWC divides the state into seven geographical bear management zones, but would allow hunting in just four, because the other three have fewer than 200 bears, including one estimated to have 98 and another with just 30.
The Central zone, which includes Orange, Lake, Osceola and Seminole counties, has the largest estimated population of bears — nearly 1,200, by FWC's guess. A more precise survey of the region's bear population is to be conducted next year.
As in 2015, the proposed bear hunting rules would forbid killing of cubs — defined as weighing less than 100 lbs — or females with cubs. Bear advocates insist hunters killed lactating female bears and bears qualified as cubs.
The newly proposed rules don't include FWC check-in stations where hunters in 2015 were required to bring their kills. Those stations provided verification that bears were taken legally and were also monitored independently by animal-welfare volunteers, who were credited by environmental groups with helping to stop the hunt early.
Instead of the stations, hunters would be required to provide details to the state within 24 hours of harvest. The corpses of harvested bears would be subject to inspection, but the rules don't clarify how that would happen.
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