Florida officials to vote on first black bear hunt in 10 years

HAVANA, Fla. - Florida wildlife officials have unanimously approved rules for a three-week bear hunt in December.

Commissioners with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission say this time around would have "a more structured format" than a hunt held a decade ago.

FWC commissioners said managing population growth is critical to maintaining safe habitats for the bears themselves.

"We have more bear interaction now than we have ever had in my life," one speaker said who was in favor of the hunt. "When I was a kid, I bear hunted with my father. I'd like to have that opportunity with my children."

What we know:

The proposed rules would include a lottery-style permitting process and up to 187 bears being killed in four designated areas of the state.

"Lets make sure our children inherit a Florida where black bears still roam in the wild, and not just in the pages of history books," said one speaker, who was against the new hunt.

The rules would also include guidelines to encourage hunters to kill male bears. State data on the 2015 black bear hunt showed 60% of the 305 bears killed were female, including 36 lactating mothers. 

"Our wildlife deserves better than suffering for sport," another speaker said. "The real threat to bears isn't their numbers, it's the lost off the wild places they need to survive."

Opponents say those deaths contributed to the deaths of scores of orphaned cubs.

Wildlife welfare groups have suggested FWC officials also ban the use of hounding, baiting, and archery during the hunt to minimize suffering and stress for the animals.

"All of our professionals sat down and came up with bear hunting options that are highly regulated and can be beneficial to our bear populations in Florida and to Floridians," said George Warthen of FWC.

PREVIOUS: Here's what Florida's bear hunt would look like if it moves forward

The backstory:

Florida's black bear was once designated a threatened species, but according to the FWC, its population has come back from just several hundred bears in the 1970s to over 4,000 today.

Regulated black bear hunting occurred in Florida in the 1930s and continued until 1994. Hunting was closed until 2015 when it was reopened for a one-week period. No bear hunting seasons have been open since 2015.

The 2015 bear hunt was stopped short and sparked public outcry when 305 black bears were killed by hunters in a two-day period.

What they're saying:

FWC Chief Conservation Officer George Warthen says the proposed hunt is an additional method to manage bears as they coexist with humans.

"Hunting in North America is used to manage game species for their benefit into the future," said Warthen. "For bears in Florida, we look at it the same way. If we have a species, how can we ensure their healthy survival in Florida, how they coexist with people and how people interact?"

PREVIOUS: Florida bear hunt inches closer to reality

But wildlife advocates call the proposal nothing more than a trophy hunt, and say it's counterintuitive to decades of conservation efforts.

"For a lot of Floridians, hunting bears is like hunting manatees. This is a species that we put a lot of effort into bringing back from the brink of extinction, and despite what our opponents want to say the bears in Florida are not back to where they should be," said James Scott, campaign coordinator for Speak Up For Wildlife.

State Rep. Lindsay Cross, whose district includes St. Petersburg, recently sent a letter to FWC commissioners opposing the proposed hunt. To read it, click here.

"The majority of the negative interactions between the Florida black bear and humans are due to habitat encroachment and failure of humans to properly contain garbage and waste.  The Commission should redirect its attention to supporting programs to reduce attractants to bears rather than green-light a trophy hunt."

Dig deeper:

The FWC has compiled a list of FAQs. You can check it out by clicking here.

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