Oct. 26--Florida wildlife officials on Sunday called off the first statewide bear hunt in 21 years after a two-day run.
By Sunday, the tally of dead black bears shot up to 295, state wildlife officials said. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission had set a statewide limit of 320 bears before the hunt began Saturday.
Hunters were required to bring kills to check-in stations within 12 hours of recovering the carcass. Check-in stations in North and South Florida will remain open until noon Monday.
"When we started this, we started with harvest objectives that were very conservative and very mindful of that we are doing this for the first time in 21 years," said Nick Wiley, executive director of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "There are uncertainties, but we put really good buffers in place to deal with those uncertainties and we're still very confident that we're within those sustainable limits."
At the designated hunting sections in South Florida -- in Hendry and Collier counties -- a total of 21 dead bears had been counted as of 9 p.m. Sunday. The area's quota was 80.
Hunting sections in the eastern Panhandle and Central Florida were closed Saturday after hunters met, and exceeded, the quotas there. In the eastern Panhandle by 9 p.m. Sunday, 112 bears were reported killed, almost triple the quota of 40 bears. In Central Florida, 139 bears were killed, surpassing the area's quota of 100.
"None of these numbers are worrying to us," said Thomas Eason, a wildlife biologist nicknamed "Dr. Bear" who serves as director of FWC's division of habitat and species conservation. "We have large, resilient, growing bear populations."
But the death toll alarmed Chuck O'Neal, organizer of the conservation group Speak Up Wekiva, which sued FWC and pushed the wildlife agency to stop the hunt, or at least stop it early if the kill limits were met. FWC originally planned for the statewide hunt to last at least two days -- regardless of the number of bears killed.
There are an estimated more than 3,000 black bears in Florida, but a population survey has not been completed in over a decade.
Diane Eggeman, FWC's hunting director, admitted Sunday the wildlife agency had underestimated the rate of hunter success but pointed out the high harvest total also may suggest that the black bear population is larger than the current estimate of 3,500.
"The more bears you have, the more likely you are to succeed," she said.
State officials are currently conducting a new survey, and opponents of the bear hunt have been critical of the state moving forward with the hunt without new results.
Bear populations are robust enough to tolerate the relatively short hunt, officials said. More than 200 bears are killed by cars on Florida's roads each year, state officials said.
Before Sunday's figures were released, the Sierra Club urged Wiley to immediately put an end to the bear hunt.
"Mayhem followed by long-term disaster are the predictable results of not stopping the hunt for the entire state," said Frank Jackalone, Florida staff director for the Sierra Club, and Debbie Matthews, its Florida Chapter Chair. "Far more bears will be 'harvested' by the end of the weekend than FWC's goal of 320 for the year, gravely reversing the recovery of the Florida black bear."
Wildlife officials said they had no reported injuries to any of the 3,778 hunters who bought permits to kill a bear.
One hunter was cited for killing an underweight bear, a 42-pound cub in the eastern Panhandle, said Major Craig Duval, the head of FWC's law-enforcement division. He said a hunter in Central Florida was warned because he brought in an 88-pound bear.
Bears weighing less than 100 pounds are presumed to be cubs.
Duval said FWC officers also are continuing investigations into instances of leaving bait to attract bears, which was not permitted under the state hunting rules. A hunter in Central Florida was cited for baiting, said Duval, who did not identify the hunter or provide other details.
Statewide, about 3,700 people had bought bear hunting permits; about 335 of those were in the South Florida region.
Staff writer Stephen Hudak contributed to this report.
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