Wildlife groups condemn “barbaric” Florida black bear hunting approval | Florida

Wildlife organizations condemn Florida regulators’ decisions to hunt black bears for the first time in a decade and allow for “barbaric” practices, including the use of bait traps, archery and dog bags.

Unanimous vote Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) approved a limited hunting season in December on Wednesday, after staff insisted that the rising population of bears and the number of encounters with humans increased.

In May, officials investigated what was believed to be The first fatal disaster A man from the black bear in the state.

But many protesters who spoke at the FWC conference in Havana said the decision has backed over the decades of once-endangered species.

They criticized hunting as “legitimate animal abuse” and said commissioners are using flawed science to justify their approval, including estimates of bear numbers rather than formal census, which will never be completed in five years.

“This bad bear hunting will harm already threatened animals and open doors to critical wilderness habitats throughout Florida,” Susannah Randolph, director of the Serra Club’s partial meeting, told the group.

“Is one of our future photos of the trophy hunter standing on a dead animal in a huge concrete parking lot? [Florida governor] Ron DeSantis can now stop this hunt and leave a lasting legacy for our children and grandchildren. ”

More than 160 public spoke at a highly charged conference that effectively rubber-graphed rules Approved by the Commissioner in May. The FWC will issue a permit for 187 bears in a 23-day hunt on December 6, accounting for 5% of the estimated total of 4,000 in Florida, with four subpopulations considered healthy.

Several spokespersons said that allowing hunting methods – including bows and arrows, bait bears with food traps, and putting trained dogs on prey starting in 2027 – concealed the state’s claim that it is a protection measure.

Only hounds are allowed 17 out of 32 states That allows hunting.

“It’s just slaughter and torture,” said Adam Sugalski, founder of Wildlife Advocacy. Bear Defender.

“Using dogs is legal to abuse animals. These dogs will be eliminated in the next few years after training, which means that during the off-season you can run the dogs into the woods and chase the bears just for fun and then kill them.”

Others point to the 2015 collapse of Florida’s latest hunt Stop prematurely Hunters, including FWC commissioners who voted to approve, were charged with illegally killing pregnant bears, new mothers and bears when 300 bears were killed within 48 hours.

Steve Meyers, an attorney who worked to prevent hunting in the lawsuit and noted Wednesday that all seven FWC commissioners were appointed or reconfirmed by DeSantis.

“The image of the Ron DeSantis bear hunting will not be a harvest, it will be the body of the lifeless black bear, with blood hanging in its mouth hanging upside down,” he said.

“The media doesn’t need photos of this hunt. Photos of the last hunt will do it. Ron DeSantis’s face will be married to that image.”

George Warthen, director of hunting and game management at FWC, acknowledged that the public’s response to the May vote was “significant and divisive”, which seemed to suggest that hunting was more like a preemptive move than a response to any existing problem.

“Harvesting highly regulated hunting will prevent the negative impact of overpopulation,” he said. “In feeding stations and dog hunting, hunters will be given the opportunity to selectively harvest larger male bears and avoid harvesting women, or females with young bears.”

The decision is the latest in a series of developing decisions by wildlife advocates, viewing it as a damage to the slowly recovering black bear populations in the 1970s. They include DeSantis Signed the law last year A measure that allows residents to kill without worrying about any bears that are considered a threat to their family, pets or property.

Conservationists seek to raise awareness of the challenges Florida black bears face, most notably vehicle strike deaths and loss of habitat through development.

Carlton Ward Jr, an environmentalist, helped find Florida Wildlife Corridor In 2010, black bears were said to be still scattered in Florida among seven subpopulations, some of whom did not recover.

Ward’s documentary Florida Bear TrackProduced by his nature storytelling company WildPath for the National Geographic Society, habitat issues are documented by following an all-female FWC worker in South Florida.

“We thank the Florida Black Bears for all the public attention they are getting and will be centered around this controversial bear hunt, and we also recognize that who Florida Black Bears are and where they live, are likely to be excluded from this conversation,” he said.

“There are only about 4,000 bears in the state, with 23 million people. So, with the impact of habitat loss and dispersion, bears face many challenges. As Florida grows, we need to learn how to coexist with wildlife. This is not optional. It is essential.”

In some habitats, healthy black bear populations do not indicate that the species has recovered in the state, Ward said.

“Bears are not thriving everywhere. In fact, in Florida, more bears are needed in more places to achieve the stated goals of a unified statewide bear population,” he said.