{"id":52052,"date":"2025-11-19T01:19:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T01:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/52052\/"},"modified":"2025-11-19T01:19:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T01:19:09","slug":"opponents-ask-desantis-to-stop-the-2025-florida-bear-hunt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/52052\/","title":{"rendered":"Opponents ask DeSantis to stop the 2025 Florida bear hunt"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Credit: Dave Decker\/Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

Opponents of Florida\u2019s first black bear hunt in a decade rallied Monday at the Capitol amid efforts to prevent bears from being killed next month in four areas of the state.<\/p>\n

In addition to the rally, opponents say they have obtained about 40 of the 172 permits that wildlife officials decided to issue for the hunt. They say those permits will go unused. Also, a Leon County circuit judge next week will hear arguments as the group Bear Warriors United seeks a temporary injunction to halt the hunt.<\/p>\n

Sierra Club Florida on Monday brought about 100 people to the Capitol for the rally as part of a longshot request to get Gov. Ron DeSantis to use his executive powers to stop the hunt, which is scheduled from Dec. 6 to Dec. 28. Buses came from Orlando, Jacksonville, Daytona Beach and Gainesville.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to be known for sunshine and beaches, not the killing of our impaired endangered species here,\u201d Bobbie Lee Davenport of the Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida said. \u201cThe science is not there. The conservation objectives are not there. This (the hunt) is pandering to special interests, plain and simple.\u201d<\/p>\n

DeSantis\u2019 office didn\u2019t immediately respond to requests for comment. The governor hasn\u2019t publicly questioned the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission\u2019s plans for the bear hunt.<\/p>\n

Also, in September, when DeSantis announced a sales-tax \u201choliday\u201d on guns, ammunition and accessories, he stood before a scowling stuffed grizzly bear, its claws extended, at G FIVE Feed & Outdoor in Plant City.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are enough voices. We just need a governor that\u2019s going to listen to those voices,\u201d Katrina Shadix of Bear Warriors United said Monday. \u201cEighty percent of Floridians are against the Florida black bear hunt. And this should have never gotten as far as it has.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted in August to approve the hunt \u2014 the first since 2015. The commission used a lottery-style system to grant permits, with each permit-holder able to kill one bear.<\/p>\n

Opponents of the hunt contend that the commission\u2019s approval was not based on sound science and used outdated bear population estimates. Leon County Circuit Judge Angela Dempsey has scheduled a Nov. 24 hearing in the lawsuit filed by Bear Warriors United.<\/p>\n

In addition to considering the group\u2019s request for a temporary injunction to halt the hunt, Dempsey will take up a motion by the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to dismiss the case.<\/p>\n

Commission attorneys have argued that Bear Warriors United is asking the court to \u201cencroach upon the commission\u2019s constitutionally derived authority to manage wildlife within the state.\u201d The attorneys also disputed arguments that the commission did not follow scientific data in approving the hunt.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe commission has determined that the black bear\u2019s population has expanded in several areas, resulting in an increased presence of bears outside of suitable bear habitats, which is compounded by human population growth and expansion,\u201d the commission\u2019s motion said. \u201cStabilizing the bear population through a limited hunt will enable the commission to maintain bears at appropriate population levels in suitable habitats across those four regions of the state, thereby enhancing the long-term survival potential of the species.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hunt will be held in the Apalachicola region west of Tallahassee; in areas west of Jacksonville; in an area north of Orlando; and in the Big Cypress region southwest of Lake Okeechobee.<\/p>\n

Bear hunting has long been controversial in Florida. The commission initially planned to issue 187 permits this year, but reduced the number after a revision in the quota in the area north of Orlando. Permits cost $100 for Florida residents and $300 for non-residents.<\/p>\n

Susannah Randolph of Sierra Club Florida said hunt opponents submitted about 163,000 applications for chances to secure permits. The applications cost $5 each.<\/p>\n

Florida is estimated to have more than 4,000 black bears, which have drawn attention in some parts of the state because of interactions with humans in residential areas.<\/p>\n

Opponents of the hunt have called for the state to use non-lethal measures such as bear-proofing garbage cans to reduce conflicts between people and bears foraging for food. But many hunters have backed holding the hunt.<\/p>\n

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