Florida advances bear hunting after spate of suburban attacks
By Barbara Liston ORLANDO, Fla. (Reuters) - Florida wildlife authorities took a step on Wednesday toward ending the state's 20-year bear-hunting ban, advancing a proposal for a one-week season this autumn amid concerns that bears are becoming a threat in suburban neighborhoods. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission did not take a formal vote, but agreed to begin preparing bear-hunting rules. Commissioners scheduled meetings in April and June to consider the proposal. Four people have been injured in bear attacks in Florida since 2012, mostly in the central part of the state built on former bear habitat near the Ocala National Forest. Of the 41 states where black bears are found, 32 allow them to be hunted, according to an agency report. Florida black bears are a local subspecies that was nearly killed off before hunting was banned. Wildlife officers are studying recent growth in the Florida black bear population, being counted for the first time since 2002, when the number stood at about 3,000. Permits could be issued to kill some 275 bears without threatening the survival of the current population, said Thomas Eason, the commission's bear expert at the hearing. He told the panel meeting in Jacksonville that bear hunting would not prevent attacks typically caused by people leaving food and garbage unsecured, enticing bears to come into their neighborhoods. Opinion is divided on the bear-hunting issue. “Is this about public safety, or getting more trophies for hunters?” Anthony Rogers-Wright of Environmental Action asked at the meeting. "Hunters won't be in the neighborhoods. They'll be killing bears deep in the woods that are not a problem," Kate MacFall, the humane society's Florida director, said before the meeting. Supporters said hunting and killing bears deep in the forest would help prevent future problems for the suburbs. Douglas Moore, a tree farmer who runs a 5,000-acre hunting club in North Florida, said bear hunts boosted local economies. “It could be a renewable resource, like my timber,” Moore said. The wildlife commission also asked its staff to propose rules aiming to reduce interaction between bears and people, such as penalties for knowingly leaving food out near bears. A recent poll by the Humane Society of the United States found such preventive measures were strongly supported by Florida voters, while 61 percent of those surveyed opposed bear hunts. (Editing by Letitia Stein, Sandra Maler and Peter Cooney)
