For the first time in a decade, Floridians will be legally allowed to hunt black bears in the state.
The move was unanimously approved by the state’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission this month, but not without opposition from some conservation and animal rights groups.
It followed the passage, in a landslide vote, of a state amendment last November enshrining the right to fishing and hunting in Florida’s constitution.
Up until Wednesday, Florida was one of only six states that didn’t allow bear hunting, the commission said.
In a May commission meeting, over 160 people registered to publicly comment on the proposed bear hunt. The majority of speakers opposed it, according to a draft of the meeting minutes.
In explaining its decision to greenlight bear hunting, the commission called hunting “an important and effective tool” to “manage wildlife populations,” and said that if Florida’s bear population continues to grow at its current rate, “we will not have enough habitat at some point in the future.”
In 1974, black bears in Florida were listed as a “state threatened species,” and the state banned bear hunting in 1994. Only one hunting season, in 2015, has been permitted since then, according to the commission.
During the 2015 bear hunt, 304 bears were captured in just two days, according to commission data. Six of the kills were illegal.
The following year, a survey research team conducted a report for the commission outlining Floridians’ public attitudes toward black bears and hunting. In 2016, 48% of Florida residents supported the hunting of black bears in the state, and 43% opposed the practice.
Wednesday’s vote establishes four bear hunting zones in the state, and allows a broad range of hunting methods, including the use of archery and dogs, according to the commission. Proponents of the measure highlighted an increase in human-bear interactions as Florida’s human and black bear populations expand.
According to the commission, black bears have expanded their range to over half the state, tripling the size of their habitat in 1992. It estimates there are about 4,000 black bears in Florida, a significant increase from just three decades ago, when there were only hundreds in the state.
Some animal rights groups argued the decision sets a dangerous precedent, including Bear Defenders, a campaign to oppose the expansion of bear hunting in Florida.
The commission’s vote to permit black bear hunting authorized the use of the most “controversial and cruel methods possible,” including “baiting, hounding, and archery, while eliminating check stations that once ensured oversight,” Nicole Cordano, who directs the Bear Defenders campaign, said in a statement to CNN.
“This is not conservation.”
Last year, Florida passed a law allowing residents to use lethal force against bears if they believe a bear poses an imminent threat to people or property.
The change will go into effect on September 1 and the designated hunting season will take place in December, after permits are issued via lottery, the commission said in a report.
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