Black bear hunt won't happen this year

There won’t be a black bear hunt in Florida this year.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted this week to postpone bear hunting in Florida in 2016. 

Florida’s first black bear hunt in over 20 years was held last year; it ended after only two days.

295 black bears were killed over those two days – 25 short of the limit.

A large number of the bears were killed in our area.

There were 112 bears killed in Florida's eastern panhandle, which includes Franklin County.

There has been a lot of opposition to having a black bear hunt – there are only an estimated 3000 black bears statewide. 

The FWC said not holding a bear hunt this year will give the state more time to work with the public to on ways to reduce human-bear conflicts with the understanding that a bear hunt in 2017 could be considered as one way to do that.

Black bears are relatively common in Franklin County and many have been seen in residential neighborhoods.

There have been at least 2 black bear attacks in the county over the past 3 years.

In general, black bears have a natural fear of people but as their population grows and more of them venture into towns they lose that fear, especially if people actively feed them.

It is illegal to feed bears in Florida and is likely a death sentence for the bear.

To keep bears away from your home, make sure to store all food and garbage in secure areas or get a bear proof garbage can from your garbage company.

And if you are aware of bears that may pose a danger to people or of people feeding bears, you can call the FWC Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922) to report it.

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