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- Florida is considering a black bear hunt to manage its growing bear population, a proposal opposed by 81% of Floridians according to a Remington Research Group poll.
- Humane World for Animals opposes the hunt, citing concerns about hunting methods like hounding and baiting, and the potential for slow, painful deaths from bow and arrow hunting.
- The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is holding public meetings to discuss the proposed hunt, with the next meeting scheduled for May 21, 2025, in Ocala.
- While the FWC reports increased bear-related calls and significantly grown bear populations, opponents argue the hunt is unnecessary and advocate for better education and bear-proofing measures.
- The first recorded fatal black bear attack in Florida occurred on May 5, 2025, further intensifying the debate surrounding bear management in the state.
Eighty-one percent of Floridians oppose a hunt to manage the state’s black bear population, according to Kate MacFall, Florida director of Humane World for Animals.
The executive leader at the organization formerly known as the Humane Society of the United States is citing a poll by the Remington Research Group.
Speaking out on behalf of Humane World for Animals against the proposed regulated bear hunt in Florida, MacFall openly disagrees with wildlife officials and politicians proposing a three-week hunt later this year, ostensibly to remove 187 bears from an estimated population of 4,000.
The Humane World state director says the numbers are outdated, and no definitive assessment has been made since a “stand your ground” bill against bears was approved in the Florida Legislature last month.
HB 87: Taking of Bears authorizes taking the lives of Florida’s black bears without a permit or authorization and provides an exemption from penalties.
Can you ethically hunt bears?
A draft proposal for a three-week hunt shared with the Naples Daily News and The News-Press by the nonprofit Bear Warriors United has the state possibly allowing hunters to feed bears, then kill them near the hand-outs, use packs of dogs, and skip check stations.
“One of the most alarming aspects of this proposed hunt that the FWC is considering is the use of hounding and baiting,” the Humane World Florida director told the Daily Commercial about using dogs to hunt bears, and meat scraps or fish to lure bears to a specific location for hunting.
The FWC may allow trophy hunters to field dress bears, she added, which can lead to misidentifying the sex or hiding the fact that a bear was a lactating mother.
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Hunters, MacFall added, could also under-report the weight of a cub to avoid penalties.
According to the Remington poll, 89% of people surveyed oppose hounding, and 86% oppose baiting and hounding when packs of dogs chase the bear up a tree.
MacFall also expressed concern about bows and arrows, which can leave bears wounded to die slowly and painfully. “A study of modern archery equipment found that about 30% of deer shot by archers die slowly rather than from quick, clean kills,” MacFall said. “It’s extremely cruel.”
How will the FWC arrive at its decision?
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission held its first public meeting regarding a proposed regulated bear hunt in December, a public meeting in March, and will host another round of talks next week in Ocala. The agency expects to reach a decision this summer.
According to the FWC, “Commissioners directed staff to develop a range of options for the commission’s consideration for black bear hunting in 2025. Following direction from the commission, staff will return to a future commission meeting for a final hearing.”
The next public FWC meeting will convene the morning of Monday, May 21, in Ocala, starting at 8:30 a.m.. The meeting will encompass two days of information sessions and public comments on several matters. The bear hunt issue might be pushed to May 22 or postponed, the agenda says. Information can be found at myfwc.com.
According to a story in the Tallahassee Democrat, a big contingent of recent public pressure to approve the hunt is coming from the state’s Panhandle. One Florida sheriff has even taken to Facebook to plead with the FWC for help, the paper said.
Franklin County Sheriff A.J. “Tony” Smith said the once reclusive animals now boldly roam the streets of Carrabelle, have broken into homes in St. Teresa, and have startled a Lanark Village resident who found one snoozing on her porch.
Why is the FWC considering another bear hunt?
The FWC reported that bear populations across the state have grown to around 2.5 to 5 times above the minimum population objectives. (Minimum population objectives, the FWC explained at the meeting, are the minimum population needed to maintain the long-term genetic health of the population.)
Supporters of the hunt argue it is a necessary population control measure and a valuable tool for wildlife management.
“FWC should manage the Florida Black Bear resource for the benefit of hunters based on science, not emotions, especially when those emotions come from sections of the public that clearly do not understand hunting nor the science behind wildlife management,” says Bear Hunting Magazine.
At its December 2024 commission meeting, the FWC’s Bear Management Program gave commissioners a five-year update on implementing the 2019 Florida Black Bear Management Plan, highlighting recent bear management and research efforts.
Florida currently has more than 17,000 square miles of suitable bear habitat, of which 46% is protected. This is adequate habitat for the current and the larger predicted future populations, the FWC reported.
But statewide bear-related calls are at an all-time high, up 42% from 2016. The calls comprise both positive (bear sightings) and negative (complaints), the proportion of which has remained relatively consistent through the years (average 40% of calls are complaints).
$2.1 million has been allocated to local governments to provide bear-proofing trash cans along with “bear aware” information and education.
MacFall shared an online fact sheet about the proposed bear hunt from Humane World, which can be found at its website.
First human dies from Florida bear attack
FWC confirmed Friday, May 9, that the death of an elderly man in Collier County on May 5 was the first fatal Florida black bear attack in state history. Investigators said the remains of 89-year-old Robert Markel were found about 100 yards from his home in rural Jerome.
A post-mortem exam of the bears found Markel’s partial remains in the body of a 263-pound male. Tests confirmed that bear’s DNA was also found on Markel, in his home and on the body of a family dog.
According to the FWC, dogs have been involved in over half of the incidents of people being injured by bears in Florida. When walking dogs, keep them close to you — ideally on a non-retractable leash — and be aware of your surroundings, which is good practice for preventing conflicts with any wildlife.
When asked her thoughts about the first bear-on-human fatality, Humane World’s MacFall expressed sadness and conveyed condolences to the victim’s family.
She maintained that the bear hunt is not the solution and recommends reading the FWC’s “BearWise” page on the agency’s website, instead.
“The FWC bear management team is excellent,” MacFall asserted. “Their tips and the information on their website can help you avoid conflicts, manage trash and other bear attractants.”
Read Daily Commercial’s tips on how to manage and avoid bear encounters at dailycommercial.com.
What happened during the last state bear hunt?
A public outcry over the speed at which kills took place and how bears were baited called into question an FWC-regulated bear hunt in 2015.
In the 2015 Florida black bear hunt, a total of 298 bears were killed the first day. The hunt was halted after the second day when the harvest approached the quota of 320 bears. In all, 139 bears were killed in central Florida, the highest number in the count.
“To wildlife professionals and hunters, these success rates indicated that the bear population was significantly higher than had been estimated prior to the hunt,” the editorial in Bear Hunt Magazine says.
“To non-hunters, it indicated that we had just decimated the bear population. The latter narrative was ultimately used to bring the Florida Black Bear hunt to a screeching halt, to be revisited 10 years later.”
So, is a bear hunt necessary?
The group Bear Defenders calls the proposed hunt “a lethal response” that is overwhelmingly disproportionate to the concerns expressed by residents and officials regarding property damage and attacks on humans.
Florida black bear numbers continue to be a problem despite the self-defense legislation, says Marion County Commission Vice Chairman Carl Zalak, whose district encompasses a portion of the Ocala National Forest.
“My concern is for drivers on State Road 40 who risk hitting black bears crossing the road,” Zalak told the Daily Commercial earlier this year, adding that the two-lane highway, which cuts east-west through federal and state forest lands in Marion, Lake and Volusia counties, poses a danger to both bears and humans.
MacFall, of Humane World, says the bear hunt will not ensure more safety for bears and humans. The problem, she said, involves a lack of awareness and education, and misinformation.
“It has more to do with eliminating attractants, not leaving trash in unsecured bins, and not feeding animals outside attracts bears,” MacFall said. “Decimating the Florida black bear population will not solve the problem of attracting bears to residences.
“Vilifying one of our most precious animals, very specific to Florida, is not the right path.”
How to learn about bear encounters
To understand the extent of problems experienced by human encounters with bears, the FWC offers an interactive map that shows incidents involving bear complaints, encounters and illegal kills. It can be found at myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/wildlife/bear/living/distribution-map.
The map shows a high concentration of bear encounters in Marion County and northern Lake County, especially around Eustis and Umatilla. Sumter County also shows bear incidents to a lesser degree in the Wildwood and Coleman areas.
The 31 counties where bears may be hunted
- North: Baker, Columbia, Hamilton, Suwannee, Union
- Eastern Panhandle: Bay, Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Jackson, Jefferson, Liberty, Leon, Wakulla, Washington
- Central: Alachua, Bradford, Clay, Flagler, Lake, Marion, Orange, Putnam, Seminole, Sumter, St. Johns, Volusia
- South: Collier, Hendry, Lee
“We’re hoping that they will change their minds,” MacFall said of the FWC bear hunt proponents. “The last one was an absolute disaster for bears, for Florida, and a PR disaster.”
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission May neeting will convene at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 21, 2025, at the College of Central Florida, The Ewers Century Center, Klein Conference Center (Building 40), 3001 SW College Road, Ocala.
Exposing the Big Game 