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Vote is set on Florida's second bear hunt

 
A Florida black bear captured in the state hunt last October is weighed by state biologists at the Rock Springs Run Wildlife Management Area near Lake Mary.
A Florida black bear captured in the state hunt last October is weighed by state biologists at the Rock Springs Run Wildlife Management Area near Lake Mary.
Published June 22, 2016

The ads are blunt: "Tell Gov. Rick Scott to stop killing our bears."

Opponents of holding a second Florida bear hunt have bought ads on television and digital devices to try to persuade Scott's appointees on the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to vote against a proposed hunt today.

The commission's staff is proposing a more limited hunt than the first one. However, commissioners could vote for no hunt, or for a similar hunt to the one that occurred last October.

Last year, more than 40,000 people responded to the commission's invitation to comment on Florida's first bear hunt in 21 years,. Of those, 75 percent opposed holding a hunt, but commissioners voted to go ahead with one anyway.

Commissioners took that step after a series of bear attacks that injured four women, although they acknowledged that a hunt would likely have no impact on preventing any future attacks.

Last year's hunt attracted more than 3,700 people who paid for a license. The hunt was scheduled to last a week, with a quota of 321 bears that could be killed. Wildlife officials ended it after just two days because the hunters had quickly killed 304 bears — 36 of them lactating females, indicating they had cubs. That statistic spurred even greater controversy.

Commissioners began discussing holding a second hunt in April after agency scientists revealed a new population estimate of 4,350 adult bears statewide. That estimate was made before the hunt.

When a trio of Florida biologists released a letter recently suggesting that what bears need are a series of sanctuaries, not more hunting, commission executive director Nick Wiley fired back. In his letter, Wiley defended his agency's scientific work in support of the hunt.

"This robust body of science clearly supports that Florida's comprehensive approach to bear management, which includes hunting, is effective and sustainable," he wrote.

Until 2011, the bears were a protected species under state law, classified as threatened. Commissioners then voted to remove it from the state's list of protected species. In March, a coalition of scientists and environmental activists petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to put the Florida bear on the federal endangered list.

Contact Craig Pittman at craig@tampabay.com. Follow @craigtimes.