SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. \u2013 The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has maintained silence since the state\u2019s bear hunt began, prompting wildlife advocacy groups to call for the hunt\u2019s termination.<\/p>\n
Speak Up for Wildlife is pressing for an immediate end to the hunt while raising concerns about potential illegal hunting activities.<\/p>\n
In a press release, the organization describes the current hunt as \u201ca lawless free-for-all.\u201d <\/p>\n
[WATCH: Florida\u2019s bear hunt is underway, but FWC is not actively saying how many have been killed]<\/p>\n
Organization president, Chuck O\u2019Neal, compared this year\u2019s hunt to 2015 and said this year they\u2019ve been shut out. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe get no data. None whatsoever,\u201d O\u2019Neal said. \u201cWe have no idea how many bears have been killed.\u201d<\/p>\n
O\u2019Neal alleges that some individuals are posting on social media about killing bears without proper permits. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe have people saying they\u2019ve killed bears. We have the list of the licensed stakeholders. These people are not on the list, so they\u2019re poaching,\u201d O\u2019Neal said.<\/p>\n
Beyond calling for an immediate end to the hunt, O\u2019Neal is advocating leadership changes within the FWC. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d like to see Roger Young fired because this is a disaster. He is a disaster,\u201d O\u2019neal said. \u201cNumber two, the seven commissioners, five of which voted for this hunt, at the next election we\u2019re going to have a new governor, those five should be gone. We need to clean house top to bottom.\u201d<\/p>\n
We did send an email to FWC asking several questions addressing the allegations made by Speak Up For Wildlife. We also asked if FWC is actively tracking the number of bears that have been harvested and how many bears have been harvested. <\/p>\n
We got an email back on Wednesday afternoon which said: <\/p>\n
In accordance with Chapter 119.07(1), Florida Statutes and Section 1.7, Internal Management Policies and Procedures of the FWC, records staff will process the requests that they\u2019ve received and notify requesters of the results. We encourage the public to file a complaint with our Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-3922 if they feel a violation has occurred.<\/p>\n
News 6 also sent two additional records requests to FWC on Wednesday regarding the bear hunt. <\/p>\n
The first bear hunt in 10 years began on Dec. 6 and runs through Dec. 28.<\/p>\n
The state issued 172 permits for the hunt, with each permit allowing the hunter to kill one bear.<\/p>\n
Hunters have 24 hours after their hunt to report their harvest to FWC, and to arrange a time and location to meet and go over their kill.<\/p>\n
The state said it decided to conduct the hunt this way because it was more efficient, according to the FWC bear hunt website.<\/a><\/p>\n The permits were assigned via a lottery system. Critics of the hunt applied to get some of the permits and reduce the number of bears hunted. <\/p>\n They are also offering $2,000 to permit holders who agree in writing not to hunt.<\/p>\n To learn details about the bear hunt, including what bears can be killed, what weapons can be used, and where hunters can hunt, check out this story on ClickOrlando.com.<\/a><\/p>\n