DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A Florida wildlife advocacy group has filed an injunction against the state’s wildlife commission in an attempt to halt a controversial black bear hunt scheduled for December.
Bear Warriors United, based in Oviedo, filed the legal challenge last week against the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), seeking to stop the hunt planned for Dec. 6-28.
“The No. 1 argument all day long, all week long, all month long, all year long, is that they don’t have the science to back up an overpopulation of bears,” said attorney Raquel Levy of Atlantic Law Center in Daytona Beach, who is handling the case pro bono.
The legal challenge questions the FWC’s data and decision-making process.
According to the injunction, the commission was established to ensure “that sound research, science, and management techniques should prevail over politics when it comes to wildlife conservation and management.”
READ: Emergency injunction filed against Florida bear hunt
The lawsuit highlights discrepancies in bear population data. One example cited shows FWC research indicating a two-thirds reduction in Osceola’s bear population over 10 years, dropping below 200 bears.
However, the FWC recently reported an estimate of 307 bears in that area, a figure that includes parts of Georgia.
“If the least-developed area has a two-thirds decline, we can only imagine the decline in other areas,” Levy said.
The FWC unanimously approved the hunt in August and began selling harvest permits in September.
According to the FWC’s website, the hunt aims to harvest up to 187 bears, stating that “slowing population growth will help balance population numbers with suitable habitat.”
Levy argues that urban sprawl is a primary threat to Florida’s black bears. She also raised concerns about the potential impact on bear cubs, referencing the controversial 2015 hunt.
That previous hunt was shut down after just two days when hunters nearly reached the 320-bear limit, harvesting 304 bears in the opening weekend. Nearly 3,800 permits had been sold for that hunt.
“A very significant percentage of the bears that they killed were actually lactating mothers, which left the baby bears, cubs, orphaned,” Levy said. “There’s going to be irreparable harm done to wildlife.”
A hearing on the injunction is expected to take place on or around Nov. 17 in Tallahassee.
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