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<\/p>\n Email Link<\/p>\n \n For the first time in a decade, Floridians will be legally allowed to hunt black bears in the state.\n <\/p>\n \n The move was unanimously approved by the state\u2019s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission this month, but not without opposition from some conservation and animal rights groups.\n <\/p>\n \n It followed the passage, in a landslide vote, of a state amendment last November enshrining the right to fishing and hunting in Florida\u2019s constitution<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n Up until Wednesday, Florida was one of only six states that didn\u2019t allow bear hunting, the commission said.\n <\/p>\n \n In a May commission meeting, over 160 people registered to publicly comment on the proposed bear hunt. The majority of speakers opposed it, according to a draft of the meeting minutes<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n In explaining its decision to greenlight bear hunting, the commission called hunting \u201can important and effective tool\u201d to \u201cmanage wildlife populations,\u201d and said that if Florida\u2019s bear population continues to grow at its current rate, \u201cwe will not have enough habitat at some point in the future.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n In 1974, black bears in Florida were listed as a \u201cstate threatened species,\u201d and the state banned bear hunting in 1994. Only one hunting season, in 2015, has been permitted since then, according to the commission.\n <\/p>\n \n During the 2015 bear hunt, 304 bears were captured in just two days, according to commission data<\/a>. Six of the kills were illegal.\n <\/p>\n
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