Fact Sheet
Keep Florida Bears Protected
Ask The Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission to keep bears
protected:
[email protected]
(850) 488-4676
Florida black bears were once forced to the brink of extinction due to overhunting and habitat loss. These typically shy forest dwellers have only recently
begun to rebound, thanks in part to a 1974 decision to protect the species and a 1994 statewide ban on bear hunting.
Due to recent high-profile bear-human incidents, all of which occurred in areas where human food had been regularly
attracting bears, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is considering reopening black bear
trophy hunting. Urge the FWC to keep bears protected because its black bear trophy hunt proposal is:
Ineffective: A trophy hunt would not keep people safer.
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Studies show that trophy hunting simply does not reduce human-bear conflicts. Trophy hunting fails to target
the problem bears who are responding to attractants like garbage. Instead, hunters target large bears far from
human habitation, all for an impressive trophy.1
Black bear numbers are regulated by the amount food available to them, not the number of bear hunters.
Trash management, public education and enforcing feeding bans, securing garbage, and aversive conditioning all
effectively reduce conflicts with bears.2 Bears stay away when systematically frightened through hazing
programs, and they teach their offspring to avoid humans as well.
Unscientific: A trophy hunt would not be based on sound science and will harm recovery of an at-risk
species.
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The most recent bear population study from 2002 estimates that Florida is home to 2,500-3,000 bears. A current
FWC bear population study is underway but is not expected to be completed until 2016.
Listed as threatened until 2012, the Florida black bear has only repopulated a fraction of its historic range and
exist in isolated pockets of habitat. Recent studies at the University of Florida and by FWC reveal that Florida's
black bear populations are not only geographically separated but have become genetically isolated and distinct
from one another.3
A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission study-- “Wildlife 2060”--predicts that 2.3 million acres of
bear habitat will be destroyed in the coming decades.4
Unpopular: The majority of Floridians oppose opening up a bear trophy hunt and favor a humane approach
to living with bears.
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A 2015 Remington Research poll confirmed that nearly two-thirds of Florida voters strongly oppose trophy
hunting Florida’s recovering black bears (61%), while only 25% would support it. The poll also indicates that an
overwhelming majority would oppose hunting black bears with dogs (84%) or bait (78%), which could be
included in a hunting proposal.
Floridians overwhelmingly favor programs providing educational outreach (84%) and bear-proof cans (81%),
with a full 87% of those polled agreeing that neighborhoods located near areas where bears occur have a
responsibility to avoid attracting bears by securing their garbage and other foods.
Rather than wasting state resources on an unpopular, scientifically baseless trophy hunt, Florida should
focus on proven methods to effectively reduce conflicts with bears.
1
Across eight scientific studies, researchers found no correlation between hunting and alleviating human-bear conflicts (HBC). Martyn Obbard et al. (2014) write: “We found no significant correlations between harvest and
subsequent HBC. Although it may be intuitive to assume that harvesting more bears should reduce HBC, empirical support for this assumption is lacking despite considerable research (Garshelis 1989, Treves and Karanth
2003, Huygens et al. 2004, Tavss 2005, Treves 2009, Howe et al. 2010, Treves et al. 2010). Obbard, Martyn et al. "Relationships among Food Availability, Harvest, and Human-Bear Conflict at Landscape Scales in Ontario,
Canada; Barrett et al., "Testing Bear-Resistant Trash Cans in Residential Areas of Florida. Treves, A. K.J. Kapp, and D.M. MacFarland. 2010. American Black Bear Nuisance Complaints and Hunter Take. Ursus 21:30-42. &
Treves, A. Hunting for Large Carnivore Conservation. 2009. Journal of Applied Ecology 46:1350-1356.
2
For instance, Yosemite National Park, officials reported in 2014 a 92 percent drop off in human-bear conflicts as a result of public education campaigns and law enforcement practices. Paul Rogers, 2014 “Conflicts with
Yosemite bears fall dramatically as people, bears learn new lessons” http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_26529196/conflicts-yosemite-bears-fall-dramatically-people-bears-learn
3
Dixon, Jeremy D., Mark Cunningham, Thomas Eason, J. Walter McCown, Madan Oli, and Michael Wooten. April 2007. Genetic Consequences of habitat fragmentation and loss: the case of the Florida black bear.
Conservation Genetics 8.2: 455-464.
4
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. August 2008. Wildlife 2060: What’s at stake for Florida? Accessed 09 September 2014 at http://myfwc.com/media/129053/FWC2060.pdf.