FLORIDA — As extra bears have been seen in city areas throughout Central Florida over the previous a number of years, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Fee is contemplating a black bear hunt.
It has been practically 10 years since Florida noticed a week-long bear hunt. FWC recently requested a proposal for another hunt, regardless of workers recommending towards it and stating that no motion is required for the bear inhabitants.
FWC workers lately up to date commissioners on their bear administration plan and goals for the longer term, together with inhabitants, habitat, human-bear conflicts and training/outreach.
Whereas FWC commissioners didn’t say sure to a bear hunt, they didn’t say no both.
A bear sighting in Kimora Hennessey’s Seminole County neighborhood isn’t a uncommon incidence. Her property, surrounded by bushes, woods, and water, is a perfect spot for bears. She stated she’s been seeing them exterior her residence and in her neighborhood for the previous 20 years.
“We love the wildlife right here and the bears are simply one of the vital joyous events,” Hennessy expressed. “Particularly if you get to see a mom with its cubs.”
If she doesn’t spot them exterior her workplace, her path cam will. Bears roaming her neighborhood aren’t a nuisance, however she stated the considered them being hunted can be.
She stated her neighborhood makes use of bear resistant trash cans.
“That may be simply terrible. I’d be very upset about that,” she stated. “I don’t see why we have to carry down the inhabitants. It’s not like they’re overrunning our neighborhood or have dozens of them within the yard. It’s an occasional sighting occasionally.”
The FWC stated the mere presence of a black bear doesn’t signify an issue.
Nonetheless, FWC stated city sprawl encroaching on historically distant areas has bears and human encountering one another extra usually.
Brad Lowery, the president of the Florida Bow Hunters Council, stated when a possible bear hunt is mentioned, individuals interpret it incorrectly.
“We don’t need to see all of the bears gone from Florida,” Lowery defined. “We need to preserve a wholesome inhabitants and the searching neighborhood feels one of the simplest ways to try this is, put a price to those animals that they at present do not need.”
The Central Florida area, which is from the Ocala Nationwide Forest to Wekiva space, has the most important inhabitants of bears within the state, with greater than 1,200.
Lowery stated they might have dealt with the 2015 hunt higher. There was no set variety of bears allowed to be hunted, and the hunt led to simply two days.
If a 2025 hunt is allowed, they might have a set variety of bears to hunt.
“The best way it’s really on the books now, to the place it’s a tag system, they might solely promote the tags for the variety of bears they wished to reap,” Lowery defined. “So it wouldn’t create the circus environment that got here out of the primary hunt.”
FWC stated there have been over 3,200 bears in 2015, and greater than 3,200 hunters purchases permits to take part. After two days, 295 bears had been killed, together with 139 in Central Florida.
Presently, there are simply over 4,000 black bears in Florida, based on FWC.
