Black Bear Hunts May Return to Florida

Florida hunters may soon find black bears back on this list of options.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is anticipated to discuss the possibility of restoring legal hunts to its roster when it meets in Jacksonville Wednesday.

The state outlawed black bear hunts in 1994 when the population of bears in Florida dwindled from an estimated 11,000 at the turn of the 20th century to less than 500 in 1974. With the black bear population once again above 3,000 and encounters between people and bears becoming more frequent and violent, however, the commission is reconsidering its rules.

In 2012, the commission took black bears off the state’s threatened species list and put a management plan in place. Even so, wildlife officials have been flooded with calls related to black bears in recent years and there have been several serious attacks in the past year.

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Staff members at the wildlife commission are recommending “limited hunts that would contribute to an overall mortality rate of 20 percent or less within each Bear Management Unit,” a presentation from the agency states. Females with cubs and bears weighing less than 100 pounds would remain protected from hunters.

The staff report indicates that before bear hunting closed statewide, the average annual harvest added up to about 46 bears a year.

Bear complaint calls to wildlife officials have risen dramatically in recent years. In 1990, the commission fielded 99 complaint calls. In 2014, that number rose to 6,312, down slightly from the 6,667 fielded in 2013, the agency noted.

“There have been four serious attacks on people by bears over the past year,” staff wrote in the presentation. “Along with significantly increasing conflict situations across the state, these attacks have caused FWC staff to reassess the pace and aggressiveness of implementation of our Bear Management Plan,” the presentation states. “In response, we are taking even more aggressive and proactive actions to ensure human safety and are accelerating consideration of hunting as a population management tool.”

A number of policy and legislative changes are also being recommended, including increasing penalties for feeding bears. Current rules make feeding bears punishable by a second-degree misdemeanor charge. Staff recommends making a first offense a non-criminal $100 fine, but a fourth offense would become a third-degree felony.

The commission’s meeting is set for Wednesday and Thursday at the Hyatt Regency, 225 E. Coastline Drive, in Jacksonville. It is unclear how soon the rule changes would go into effect if commissioners agree with staff recommendations.

To read the full presentation, visit FWC online.

What are your thoughts on this? Should bear hunts be legal in Florida? Tell us by commenting below.

Image courtesy of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

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