The Florida bear hunting lottery will grant 172 bear hunting permits for the upcoming hunting season after more than 160,000 chances were purchased for $5 each.
Animal advocacy groups including Speak Up Wekiva, the Sierra Club and thousands of bear hunting opponents have purchased chances and believe they may have secured nearly 50 permits which will NOT be used for the bear hunting season.
Based on past history, in 2015, a “controlled bear hunt” was scheduled to last a week, but had to be canceled after two days when hunters killed 304 bears – just short of the 320 bear quota. The hunt was extremely controversial after numerous rule violations had been reported; bears killed under the 100-pound minimum weight and another extremely cruel hunt in the killing of a mother bear and her small cubs. At the time, anyone was allowed to pay for a permit and go hunting.
In Florida, there are approximately 4,000 black bears with most bear populations found in the center of the state. Unfortunately, the lack of habitat and humans leaving food outdoors and not sealing trash receptacles, continue to bring bears uncomfortably close to neighborhoods.
The Bear Defenders posted the following:
The December bear hunt in Florida is nothing short of a disgrace. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has branded it a ‘scientific, well-regulated hunt,’ yet the facts reveal otherwise: no check stations, no meaningful oversight beyond the honor system, and no additional officers in the field to enforce compliance. That is not science, nor is it conservation.
Bear Warriors United has filed suit in Circuit Court Leon County to stop the hunt. Thomas Allison, who lives in Ocala says that every bear pulled off the kill list is a good thing. He purchased more than $600 worth of bear hunt lottery tickers, and secured a permit for the hunt which he will not use or share.
The hunt will take place in four regions of the state called “bear management units.” These areas are split into “harvest zones in both private and public lands which also includes part of the Seminole Forest.
Will the FWC add to the number of permits next year because the bear protectors have prevailed in stopping some bear killings?
Those in favor of hunting bears insist killing bears is good for the bears.
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