Tallahassee, Florida– to First time in a decadeHunters armed with rifles and bows have spread across Florida’s swamps and flatlands to legally hunt Florida’s black bear, amid intense opposition from critics.
The state-sanctioned chase began Saturday after the tie More than 160,000 requests To obtain a very limited number of hunting permits, including hunting permits from opponents trying to reduce the number of bears being killed Hunt this yearThe first at the state level Since 2015.
the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission 172 bear hunting permits were awarded by random lottery for this year’s season, allowing hunters to kill one bear in areas where the population was deemed large enough. At least 43 of the permits went to hunting opponents who never intended to use them, according to the Florida chapter of the Sierra Club, which encouraged critics to apply in hopes of saving the bears.
Florida’s black bear population is considered one of the state’s conservation success stories, having grown from just several hundred bears in the 1970s to an estimated more than 4,000 today.
Opponents wondered if the chase was necessary, but it was Unable to convince the courts To stop it.
Here’s what you should know.
The 172 people who received a permit through a random lottery will be able to kill one bear each during the 2025 season, which runs from Dec. 6 to Dec. 28. The permits are for one of four designated bear hunting areas in the state, each of which has a hunting quota set by state officials based on the number of bears in each area.
In order to participate, hunters must have a valid hunting license and a bear harvest permit, which costs $100 for residents and $300 for non-residents, plus fees. Permit applications cost $5 each.
Regulated hunting will help spur healthy bear populations and help fund the work needed, according to Mark Barton of the Florida chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, an advocacy group that supports the hunt.
Holding an annual hunt will help ensure funding “to continue moving bear conservation forward,” Barton said.
According to state wildlife officials, the bear population has increased enough to support regulated hunting and ensure population management. The government agency sees hunting as an effective tool used to manage wildlife populations around the world, and allows the state to monetize conservation efforts through permit and application fees.
“Although we have enough suitable habitat to support our current bear population levels, if the four major populations continue to grow at current rates, we will no longer have sufficient habitat at some point in the future,” reads a bear hunting guide published by the state Wildlife Commission.
Meanwhile, opponents have called the hunt cruel and unnecessary, and an excuse for hunters to capture a trophy animal when the real problem is a growing human population encroaching on the bears’ habitat.
This year’s hunting plan includes stricter rules than the 2015 hunting plan, as permits were given to anyone who could pay for them, resulting in more than 3,700 permits being issued. This led to a chaotic event that was shut down days ago. Of the 304 bears killed, at least 38 were females with cubs, meaning the baby bears may have died as well.
Ultimately, wildlife officials decided to cancel the hunt after its second day after more bears than expected were killed, even though hunters did not exceed the state quota.
Doug Moore regularly sees bears on the more than 6,000 acres of forest he manages in Northeast Florida. Moore, the president of the local hunting club, generally supports the new regulations for bear hunting, even though he and his family members did not obtain a permit this year.
Moore described the management of the manhunt in 2015 as “wrong” and “completely wrong”, but said: “They are doing it right this time.”
Hunting advocates said the growing numbers of bears pose a safety issue, with local officials sharing reports of bears on porches, rummaging through trash cans and wandering through neighborhoods and playgrounds.
Activists say the state should instead focus on other ways to reduce nuisance bears and ensure safety through better waste management.
While opponents failed to convince a judge to stop the hunt, about a quarter of all hunting permits were issued, after activists applied for hunting tags they never intended to use.
“Somewhere out there, a bear is going to walk into the Panhandle, and I’ve stopped them from executing,” said Joel Cleveland, an opponent of the hunt who obtained one of the permits.
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Kate Payne is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America It is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.