(The Center Square) – Black bear hunting is now legal in Florida, after a state commission on Wednesday approved a limited program in response to a rising population of the animals in the state as a result of conservation programs.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted to allow hunting in four of the state’s seven bear management areas.
The number of permits will be limited to 187 and each permit only allows hunters to kill one bear. Permits will be issued in a random drawing with hunters 18 and older eligible to enter.
“I am proud that Florida is joining the majority of states that manage black bears with regulated hunting,” commission chairman Rodney Baretto said in a statement. “The components of the hunt are conservative and prioritize conservation, with a limited number of permits only being issued in the areas of the state with the largest bear populations.”
In the 1970s, there were only a few hundred black bears in Florida but the number has now increased to an estimated 4,000, the state said. The state describes the increase in the bear population “one of Florida’s most successful conservation efforts.”
Regulated hunting of bears in Florida started in the 1930s, but was halted in 1994. It reopened in the fall of 2015 for one season and has been illegal since then.
A limited hunting program will help the state manage the bear population and keep it from becoming too large, the state said.
“Slowing population growth will help balance population numbers with suitable habitat, and hunting is an important and effective tool that is used to manage wildlife populations across the world,” the state said on its website.
Wednesday’s decision was criticized by some environmental groups, including the Sierra Club Florida.
“Today – in direct defiance of public opinion, science, and its own wildlife data – the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted to reinstate black bear hunting in Florida,” the Sierra Club said in a statement.
The last legal hunt in 2015 resulted in the killing of 300 bears in two days, according to the Sierra Club.
“Sierra Club Florida has opposed the hunt as cruel, unnecessary, and ineffective, with FWC’s own research confirming that protecting and restoring habitat – not trophy hunting – is the proven way to support healthy bear populations,” the organization said.
