Florida will have a three-week black bear hunt in December after officials voted to approve the hotly contested measure.

What's happening?

According to The Guardian, George Warthen, the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's director of hunting and game management, said the event was necessary to "prevent negative future impacts of overpopulation." 

However, conservationists noted the last such hunt was a disaster and that the animal is threatened by habitat loss and vehicle strikes.

In 2015, hunters were accused of illegally killing cubs, new mothers, and pregnant bears in the first hunt since 1994. It ended early after 300 bears were killed in two days.

This hunt will include 187 permits and is scheduled for 23 days. There are about 4,000 black bears in the state, and four subpopulations will be targeted.

Critics argue that the use of dogs, which will be allowed in hunts beginning in 2027, is cruel and just one of the issues. Hunters can also employ food traps and use bows and arrows. FWC said the use of bait and dogs will allow hunters to observe the bears and be selective about which ones they kill.

The Guardian stated that wildlife groups have called the use of dogs, archery, and bait traps "barbaric." 

"It's just slaughter and torture," said Adam Sugalski, founder of the wildlife advocacy group Bear Defenders. "Using dogs is legalized animal cruelty."

The publication pointed out, "Many protesters who spoke at the FWC meeting in Havana said the decision turned back the clock on decades of recovery of the once endangered species."

Why is the hunt concerning?

In the 1970s, there were just a few hundred black bears in Florida. This hunt could kill off 4.7% of the population. There are seven subpopulations in the Sunshine State, and some are struggling to recover because of human development. The creatures have reoccupied 49% of their historic range, per FWC.

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In 2024, Governor Ron DeSantis signed a law that enabled citizens to kill "any bear perceived to pose a threat to their families, pets, or property," per The Guardian.

Human-wildlife encounters, however, are mostly a result of people's encroachment on nature and not spiking or aggressive animal populations. 

In fact, FWC has said that black bears are wary of people and prefer dense understory. They avoid confrontation 90% of the time, and attacks are "very rare" and usually the result of defensive behavior.

What's being done about the Florida bear hunt?

The Guardian pointed out that the unanimous ruling was made by seven FWC commissioners who were appointed or reconfirmed by DeSantis, showing the importance of voting for political candidates who align with eco-conscious policies.

Residents can help support wild bear populations by not feeding the animals; securing trash, pet food, and bird seed; and taking other precautions to prevent them from becoming food-conditioned or habituated to humans, per FWC. 

If a bear is in your yard, make sure you're in a safe spot and that it has an escape route, and then scare it away by making loud noises.

"We actually need more bears in Florida, in more places, to have the stated goal of a genetically connected statewide bear population," Carlton Ward Jr., who created the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation, told The Guardian.

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