Florida moves to revive bear hunting season

TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Some 20 years after Florida's last bear hunting season, the once dwindling native black bear population has rebounded and the state's wildlife agency has taken steps to revive the season after a surge in human-bear conflicts.

Members of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said the agency needs to take an aggressive approach to quell conflicts between humans and bears. In the coming weeks, the commission will draw up plans for stiffer penalties for those who feed the bears and carelessly dispose of garbage.

"We are heavily into what we are calling a conflict management phase, where we have bears that are no longer on the brink of extinction," Thomas Eason, the commission's bear expert said. "There are more bears in more places and more people in more places and more interaction and we're coming to grips with what does that mean."

In the past 14 months, the number of conflicts between humans and bears has increased in the state, particularly in the central and northern regions. That includes separate bear attacks on a 15-year-old girl and a woman in a gated community.

Under the proposal, hunters will have a one-week season in the fall on private and public lands in areas across the state. They would be required to buy a $100 resident or $300 non-resident permit. Hunting with dogs will be prohibited. Female bears and cubs will be off limits.

The commission also wants the state to increase the penalties for repeat bear-feeding offenders, including felony charges and up to five years in prison. Currently, feeding a bear is a second-degree misdemeanor with a fine of up to $500 and 60 days in jail. .