Two Hundred Bears Killed in Florida's First Hunt in Decades [Updated]
After 21 years of cohabiting peacefully, Florida’s residents have turned on their most majestic of neighbors: the bears.
The state held its first bear hunt in two decades on Saturday, resulting in a reported 224 bears killed across the state. According to The Orlando Sentinel, in at least one area, the panhandle, the number of bears killed was more than double the quota of 40 set by the Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission. The hunt has been called off in the panhandle, but continues elsewhere.
There are about 3000 bears roaming the woods of Florida, and the state issued a total of 3,778 bear hunting permits as part of a plan to control black bear attacks on residents and their pets.
Environmentalists have vehemently opposed the bear hunt, calling it unnecessary and cruel. In September, an activist group called “Speak Up, Wekiva” filed an emergency order to get a temporary injunction on the hunt. The group says that the weeklong hunt is likely to take a higher number of bears than the quota set by wildlife managers, because hunters receive little oversight.
“Whether you are talking black bears in Florida or grizzlies in Wyoming, the first resort for management shouldn’t be shooting them and calling it sound management,” Wayne Pacelle, president and of the Humane Society of the United States, told National Geographic. “Are we really solving problems or creating new ones?”
Update 10/25 6:30 p.m.: At a news conference on Sunday afternoon, officials reported that a total of 293 bears have been killed so far in the hunt, approaching the state’s cap of 320.
“We underestimated the hunters success for the first two days in two bear management units,” said Diane Eggeman, director of hunting and game management at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Officials say they may end the bear hunt on Sunday night due to “success for the first two days.”
