The black bear population in Florida is on the rise and this has led to a number of attacks on residents, prompting officials to once again make hunting black bears legal in the state.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) will be meeting next month to discuss the issue alongside others.
From Feb. 4 to 5, the commission will be gathering in Jacksonville to talk about issues pertaining to wildlife in the state. One of the first items on the agenda is the management of the Florida black bear, which will include updates on their population, how to address conflict issues and how to implement sustainable hunting measures as a means of controlling the population.
The meeting is open to the public so all individuals are welcome to listen in on the meeting. Should anyone feel the need to contest any decision that was made during the last meeting, they will be given the floor to speak up, provided they have verbatim records of the proceeding in question, which may include evidence and testimony.
There are at least 600,000 black bears in all of North America, around 300,000 of which are concentrated in the United States. Out of this number, smaller populations for the subspecies Louisiana and Florida black bears are in existence.
While the Louisiana black bear is currently listed as threatened, the Florida black bear is more widespread at 3,000. Around 60 years ago, however, Florida's black bear count was at about 500.
While hunting black bears will definitely bring their population down, it is not the only means Florida is considering in managing conflicts. The FWC in particular is more interested in training and educating people on how to keep black bears at bay without harming them and putting out more bear-proof trash cans to deter the black bears from coming into public areas.
Black bears are highly attracted to the scent of food, so they will go where they think they will get a free meal. This is why hunters have to be wary of how they smell because black bears can easily tell by scent if someone is coming for them.
Should Florida allow black bear hunting once again, then rules and regulations will, of course, be in place to determine season dates, baiting locations, licensing guidelines and other do's and don'ts.
