Fact Sheet
Florida Bear Incidents & Trash (Mis-)Management
Incidents such as the recent bear-human incident in the Panhandle town of Eastpoint are especially tragic since they
may have been prevented simply by adequate bear-proof trash management, which involves community education,
enforcement of feeding bans, effective garbage maintenance and aversive conditioning of bears.
According to the media, the recent high-profile bear incidents all happened in areas where human food had been
attracting bears:
•
December 2014. Eastpoint, FL. Franklin County. 15-year-old girl walking her dog injured by female bear with
cubs bear near Big Top market. A news article quoting FWC staff suggests that the incident occurred near an
open dumpster: “Kirkland said that he was told by the market’s owners that ‘it’s almost a nightly occurrence’
that bears get into a dumpster behind the Big Top, about 150 feet from where the incident happened.”1
•
April 2014. Lake Mary, FL, Seminole County. Carrisbrooke neighborhood, Terri Frana injured by a female bear in
her driveway. Three people in the area were charged with second-degree misdemeanors for intentionally
feeding bears and other wildlife. Eugene Cifers, one of Frauna’s neighbors, pleaded no contest to criminal
charges for feeding bears outside his house after photographs emerged that appear to show Cifers feeding
bears. Six months’ probation, $460 fine, community service. Two other people in nearby Longwood pleaded no
contest and were sentenced to six months’ probation, 25 hours of community service, and a $200 payment to
the commission’s wildlife alert hotline.2
•
December 2014 Lake Mary, FL, Seminole County. Woman walking her dog was bitten on the arm by a female
bear with cubs. As a result of the attack, the Heathrow’s Homeowners Association board passed new rules on
how its 2,000 residents should dispose of their trash. According to media coverage: “When the bear attack
happened in Heathrow, garbage pick-up was the next day. Many residents had already put their garbage out
to the curb. Fish and wildlife officials said garbage is one of the biggest things that attracts bears into a
neighborhood. But under the new rules, a Heathrow resident said they are instructed to wait to put garbage out
until 5 a.m. the day trash is collected – unless they have a bear-proof trashcan.”3 FWC also indicated that trash
from construction workers in the Heathrow neighborhood may have attracted the bear.4
•
December 2013. Longwood, FL, Seminole County. Female bear with cubs injures Susan Chalfant while walking
her dogs. Residents describe bears frequently drawn to trash cans in the area. As a result of the incident, the
Wingfield North Homeowners Association in Longwood, where the incident happened, enacted strict Bearwise rules to secure garbage and prevent attracting more bears, and became the first neighborhood in Florida
to pass bear-wise rules.5
•
March 2012. Longwood, FL, Seminole County. Woman walking dog is bitten on the backside by a bear near the
open dumpster at her apartment complex. According to the FWC quoted in the Orlando Sentinel, the bear had a
nearby cub, and the bear had “become a nuisance in the community because of an open trash bin that [had]
become its main food source.”6
Unfortunately, most neighborhoods near bear habitat in Florida still do not have adequate bear-proof trash
management. As a result, these “hot-spot” areas for bear activity will likely continue to face serious problems until
they adopt bear-wise trash management and other practices that prevent bears from becoming attracted to food
sources in the community and teach bears to stay in the wilderness.
Fact Sheet
Sources:
1
Adlerstein, David. “Latest Update: Eastpoint girl recuperating from bear attack.” Dec 23, 2014. Accessed at
http://www.apalachtimes.com/news/local-news/latest-update-eastpoint-girl-recuperating-from-bear-attack-1.416278?page=4 .
2
http://www.wtsp.com/story/news/local/florida/2014/07/11/florida-man-in-trouble-for-feeding-bears/12513343/
http://tampa.cbslocal.com/2014/06/20/3-charged-with-feeding-bears-in-central-florida/
3
http://www.mynews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/news/article.html/content/news/articles/cfn/2014/12/17/bears_in_heathro
w_pr.html
4
Allen, Jeff. “Bear Bites Lake Mary Woman on Arm, FWC Officials Say. December 4, 2014. Accessed at:
http://www.mynews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/news/article.html/content/news/articles/cfn/2014/12/4/lake_mary_bites_w
oma.html . From the article: “Wildlife officials say there are more bears on the move this time of year – searching for food.
Heathrow residents do a good job of keeping trash out of bears reach. But FWC said construction workers – not so much.’ There is a
lot of construction going on, and with the construction comes a lot of debris and byproduct, and a lot of dumpsters,’ said Greg
Workman with FWC. ‘And with that there’s construction workers. So we want to stress that not only do the residents need to secure
their food, but also anyone that is utilizing that area.’”
5
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2014-06-17/news/os-seminole-neighborhood-bear-rules-20140617_1_bear-attack-susanchalfant-terri-frana ; see also http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/longwood-woman-attacked-bear-seminole-fire-says/nb9FK/
http://www.mynews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/news/article.html/content/news/articles/cfn/2014/12/17/bears_in_heathro
w_pr.html
6
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-03-16/news/os-bear-attacks-woman-20120316_1_wildlife-conservation-commissioncub-wildlife-agency;