Black bears in the cross-hairs of Florida wildlife agency

[June 24, 2015]  By Barbara Liston
 
 ORLANDO, Fla. (Reuters) - Florida is expected Wednesday to greenlight a black bear hunt in October for the first time in 20 years despite protests and petitions calling on Governor Rick Scott to stop it.

Florida’s seven Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commissioners, who are appointed by Scott, are set to take a final vote at their meeting in Sarasota, but made their intent clear in February when they directed their staff to devise the bear-hunt rules.

The hunt would occur between Oct. 24 and 30, according to the newly prepared rules. Hunters with special permits would be allowed to kill one bear each with center-fire rifles and handguns, shotguns, and various types of bows. The use of bait and off-leash dogs would be prohibited.

Scott signaled he would not overturn a vote by the commissioners for the hunt.

"Governor Scott trusts them to make the right decision to keep families safe," John Tupps, the governor’s deputy communications director, said in an emailed statement.

The commission raised the idea of a hunt in January after a year in which three people were injured separately by bears.

The animals are lured by the smell of human food and garbage to subdivisions that continue to be built in traditional bear habitat north of Orlando.

Calling it a "trophy hunt" those in opposition, including the Humane Society of the United States, say any killings in October will do far less to reduce bear-human conflicts than universal use of bear-proof garbage cans.

One of several on-line petitions to stop the hunt had nearly 98,000 signatures as of Tuesday afternoon.

The wildlife agency in 2012 removed the Florida black bear from the state’s list of threatened species based on the 2002 population count of 3,000 and a strong recovery trend, according to wildlife service executive director Nick Wiley, in a press release on Monday.

An ongoing census indicates the bear population has risen 30 and 50 percent in two forest areas over the 2002 totals, Wiley wrote.

Of 41 states where black bears are found, 32 allow them to be hunted, according to the wildlife agency. Florida black bears are a local subspecies.

A survey by the Humane Society in January found 61 percent of voters opposed what they called a trophy bear hunt, and 25 percent were in favor.

(Editing by David Adams and Lisa Lambert)

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