Letter: Don’t bring back the killing of Florida’s black bears
Next week, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) meets in Panama City and the subject of resuming a Black Bear Hunt in Florida is on the table.
The current draft revision of the FWC’s Bear Management Plan leaves open a strong possibility for future black bear trophy hunts, maybe as early as 2020.
This will further harm Florida’s still recovering black bear population.
Unfortunately we’ve been down this road before.
In 2015, despite overwhelming public opposition, the FWC permitted a trophy hunt that resulted in over 300 dead bears in just two days before they shut it down.
The slaughtered bears including nursing moms whose cubs were left to die.
A gruesome audio tape of one of the wounded bears crying was played before the Commission.
Trophy hunters kill animals for photos, bragging rights and for display in their homes.
Human-bear conflicts, such as trash raiding, are used as a justification but studies show that hunting bears does nothing to alleviate them.
Floridians value their bears and don’t want them trophy hunted.
If the FWC decides to reopen trophy hunting on our bears, it will be highly upsetting and demonstrate how out of touch they are with Floridian values.
The vast majority of the public wants to enjoy these animals roaming freely in their habitat. [The bear population in Florida has grown from 300 to 500 in the late 1970s to more than 4,000 following the 2015 hunt.]
The FWC’s mandate is to represent the citizens of Florida.
They should reflect our sentiments with regard to black bears and find humane ways to manage potential conflicts other than killing them.
Valerie Howell,
Coral Gables
This story was originally published December 6, 2019 at 3:41 AM.
