By Samantha Joles, FSU Law 3L

Introduction

The Florida black bear is a subspecies of American black bear that resides in nearly every type of habitat in Florida and was once legally protected as a state-designated threatened species.[1] In the 1970s, the Florida black bear population was just a few hundred.[2] After years of successful conservation efforts, the Florida black bear population has reached 4050 bears.[3] With approximately 1200 people moving to Florida every day, an increase in bear sightings and human-bear conflicts is to be expected.[4] To reduce human-bear conflicts, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC, or the Commission) has mandated a bear hunting season, permitting individuals to take Florida black bears as a means of bear population control.[5] As demonstrated below, the Commission’s bear hunt is wholly unnecessary because the use of non-lethal methods of bear management has consistently proven to be an effective means of reducing human-bear conflicts.

History of the Florida Black Bear 

The Florida black bear’s legal status has changed a multitude of times throughout the 1900s and 2000s due to the fluctuating bear population. In 1936, the first legal status of the Florida black bear was created. Bears were deemed “fur-bearing animals” permissible for harvest from December to March with no limit on taking (excluding Volusia County, Florida, where it was illegal to take bears).[6] In 1944, bears were instead grouped as “predators” and could be taken at any time and in any manner.[7] In 1974, the Florida black bear was deemed a state-designated threatened species due to significant population depletion, and Florida counties closed bear hunting seasons at increasing rates until all remaining bear hunting seasons were closed statewide in 1994.[8] After successful repopulation of the species, the Commission removed the Florida black bear from the list of state-designated threatened species in 2012, and the Florida black bear is now listed as a recovered species that is no longer a conservation concern.[9] Bear hunting seasons remained closed throughout Florida for twenty-one years until the Commission reopened bear hunting season on October 24, 2015, to stabilize the growing bear population.[10]

Florida Black Bear Conservation Rule

There are few ways to legally take a Florida black bear. Individuals may take one bear per bear hunting season with the proper permitting, and in defense of themselves, another individual, a pet, or to prevent substantial damage to a dwelling.[11]

The Black Bear Conservation Rule was adopted in August of 2012. This Rule protects bears and deems it illegal to take, possess, injure, shoot, collect, or sell black bears or their parts, or attempt to engage in such conduct, except as authorized by the Commission.[12] However,  certain activities—such as the collection of scientific data for conservation or management, and the taking of bears causing property damage when non-lethal options are unavailable—may be eligible for exemption.[13]

The Bear Hunts

Under the Black Bear Conservation Rule, the taking of bears is allowable as a Commission-approved method of population management. In 2015, the Commission reestablished a bear hunting season to manage the growing populations of Florida black bears.[14] The black bear hunting season was mandated under the assumption that an increasing bear population was contributing to growing numbers of human-bear conflicts.[15] This was the first bear hunting season in twenty years and earned its infamous name of “the bear hunt.”[16]

2015 Bear Hunt

The 2015 bear hunt was open from October 24th to October 26th.[17] The Commission issued 3776 permits with a harvest goal of 320 bears.[18] The Commission’s hunting director predicted the hunt would claim only 183 bears, but the hunt was called off by the Commission after only the second day due to the unprecedented taking of 304 bears in a matter of forty-eight hours.[19] Included in the death toll were thirty-eight lactating mother bears and also thirteen cubs under 100 pounds, which were exempted from the hunt and taken illegally.[20]

2025 Bear Hunt

The Commission aimed for a much more highly regulated hunt last year. The 2025 bear hunt ran from December 6th to December 28th.[21] Despite the incredible interest in the hunt (over 163,000 permit applications), the Commission issued only 172 permits, the exact number of bears that needed to be harvested to result in a 0% population increase.[22] A total of fifty-two bears were taken, only 30% of the total harvest goal.[23] All bears met the requirements of the hunt: the harvested bears were over 100 pounds, and no cubs or nursing mothers were taken.[24]

Opposition to Hunts

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has stated that there is no evidence that hunting alone reduces human-bear conflicts.[25] Rather, it believes emphasis should be put on expanding the use of non-lethal methods of reducing food attractants, such as bear-proof trashcans and electric fencing.[26] It is worth noting that there have been only forty-six reports of physical contact between a bear and a human from 2006 to 2025, an average of two physical interactions per year for the last nineteen years.[27] Humans leave nearly all of these interactions unscathed or with minor scratches.[28] Statistically speaking, human-bear conflicts leading to the justification of bear hunts are marginal at best. The unintended consequences from the hunts are sufficient to look to other measures of population control.

Cub Mortality and Conflicts

Mother bears usually have a litter of two to three cubs at a time.[29] Based upon the estimated thirty-eight mother bears that were killed in the 2015 hunt, approximately ninety-five orphaned cubs were left to fend for themselves.[30] The Commission asserts that cubs can survive on their own at eight-months old and states that the bear hunts are strategically planned to take this into account, but cubs without a mother stand a significantly lower chance of survival.[31] While survival at eight months is technically possible, black bear cubs typically remain with mother bears for sixteen months, learning survival skills before branching out on their own.[32] Cub mortality ranges from 41-61%, indicating that about half of all cubs die before reaching adulthood.[33] Unfortunately, these grim mortality rates are further exacerbated when mother bears are taken, and cubs are left without survival skills and protection.[34] In fact, the largest threats to cubs include starvation, adult bears who see cubs as an easy meal, and vehicle collisions, all of which commonly occur when cubs are not under the supervision of their mother.[35] Because orphaned cubs lack critical survival skills, they are more likely to wander into neighborhoods in search of food or may otherwise find themselves in roadways, causing even more human-bear conflicts and higher mortality rates among bears.[36] In sum, while cubs may technically be capable of lone survival after bear hunts, the hunts are statistically likely to cause an increase in human-bear conflicts and cub mortality.

FWC Board of Commissioners

As with every policy-making body, the make-up of the FWC is key to its functioning. The Commission is responsible for setting environmental policies that regulate most fishing and hunting, as well as laws for development on wetlands, scrubs, and other habitats where threatened and endangered species live.[37] The current commissioners have broad experience in the corporate world that may assist them in the operation of a large agency like the Commission,  but many lack training and experience in conservation, land management, and wildlife ecology. Accordingly, there have been recent legislative efforts to restructure the Board’s composition based on concerns that “individuals with a fish and wildlife biology or ecology background are missing from the Commission.”[38]

Alternatives to Hunts

The presence of bears alone does not indicate a threat to safety.[39] But like any wild animal, bears are driven by their sense of smell and need to eat. In the wild, bears typically scavenge for fruits, insects, and small animals in heavily wooded areas. Black bears tend to be fearful of humans, but the need for food can overpower this fear and lead them into populated areas in search of food.[40] The Commission has famously coined the phrase, “a fed bear is a dead bear.”[41] Once bears lose their natural fear of humans, they return to populated areas to access food and typically end up killed by vehicle collisions, illegal taking, or taking as a bear management measure for community safety.[42]

Bears can find an entire day’s worth of food in a single trash can.[43] With a sense of smell that allows them to detect food from over a mile away, it is common for bears to wander into neighborhoods with unsecured trashcans in search of food for the day.[44] However, bears will return to the wild to scavenge for food if they are unable to easily access trash.[45] To successfully deter bears from accessing trash and becoming food-conditioned, the Commission recommends that Floridians living in areas with a known bear population invest in bear-proof trashcans.[46]  Bears are unable to open the such containers or otherwise obtain food from them and eventually become disinterested.[47]

The Commission itself has acknowledged that the most effective method of controlling human-bear conflicts is to implement bear-proof trashcans in areas where there are known bear populations.[48] For example, Seminole County—the epicenter of human-bear conflicts in Florida—passed an ordinance in 2016 that required residents to use a bear-resistant trash can or to wait until after 5 a.m. to take garbage containers to the curb for trash pickup.[49] Since the ordinance’s adoption, complaints about bears have fallen by over 50%.[50] Seminole County, which once led the state in human-bear conflicts, has thus experienced an enormous decrease in such conflicts after the adoption of the bear-proof trashcan ordinance.[51]

Conclusion

Living in harmony with bears is possible if the Commission mandated the use of the most highly effective, non-lethal method for reducing human-bear conflicts: bear-proof trashcans. Bear hunts provide no real solution for the root cause of human-bear conflicts and instead have led to an increase in such conflicts when nursing mother bears are taken, leaving cubs to wander into human neighborhoods in search of food.

[1] Protecting the Florida Black Bear Comment to The Florida Black Bear, Fla. Wildlife Fed., https://floridawildlifefederation.org/florida-black-bear/ (last visited Mar. 18, 2026) [hereinafter Protecting the Florida Black Bear Comment].

[2] Background Comment to Florida Black Bear, Fla. Fish and Wildlife Conservation Comm., https://myfwc.com/hunting/bear/ (last visited Mar. 18, 2026) [hereinafter Background Comment].

[3] Id.

[4] How Many People Moved to Florida This Past Year?, Tampa Bay Econ. Dev. Council (Mar. 29, 2023), https://tampabayedc.com/how-many-people-moved-to-florida-this-past-year/.

[5] Fla. Admin. Code, r. 68A-12.012(6) (to take a bear is to pursue, hunt, molest, capture, or kill, or attempt any of these actions, regardless of whether such actions result in possession of the bear).

[6] Florida Black Bear Management Plan, Fla. Fish and Wildlife Conservation Comm., at 23, https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/wildlife/bear/managing/.

[7] Id.

[8] Id. at 24.

[9] Fla. Admin. Code. r. 68A-27.003; Protecting the Florida Black Bear Comment, supra note 1.

[10] 2015 Black Bear Hunt Summary Report, Fla. Fish and Wildlife Conservation Comm. https://myfwc.com/media/13669/2015-florida-black-bear-hunt-report.pdf (last visited. Mar. 18, 2026) [hereinafter 2015 Summary].

[11] Fla. Admin. Code r. 68A-12.012(2)(a)(1-4); Fla. Admin. Code r. 68A-12.012 (3)(f); § 379.40411(1)(a-b), Fla. Stat. (2025).

[12] Fla. Admin. Code r. 68A-4.009(2).

[13] Fla. Admin. Code r. 68A-4.009(2)(a-b).

[14] Background Comment, supra note 2.

[15] George Wuerthner, Florida Black Bear Hunt Represents Failure of Wildlife Management, The Wildlife News (Oct. 26, 2015), https://www.thewildlifenews.com/2015/10/26/florida-black-bear-hunt-represents-failure-of-wildlife-management/.

[16] Id.

[17] 2015 Summary, supra note 10, at 3, https://myfwc.com/media/13669/2015-florida-black-bear-hunt-report.pdf.

[18] Id.

[19] Id.

[20] Id.

[21] 2025 Black Bear Harvest Fact Sheet, Fla. Fish and Wildlife Conservation Comm. (2025), https://myfwc.com/media/qoicfa01/2025-bear-harvest-fact-sheet.pdf.

[22] Id.

[23] Id.

[24] Id.

[25] Jimmy D. Taylor & James Phillips, Black Bear, U.S. Dept. of Agric. at 9 (Mar. 2020), https://www.aphis.usda.gov/sites/default/files/black-bear-wdm-tech-series.pdf.

[26] Id.

[27] Table 1 Comment to Encounter, Fla. Fish and Wildlife Conservation Comm. (2025), https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/wildlife/bear/living/encounter/.

[28] Id.

[29] Black Bear Litter Size, N. Amer. Bear Ctr., https://bear.org/bear-facts/black-bear-litter-size/ (last visited Mar. 18, 2026).

[30] 2015 Florida Black Bear Hunt FAQs, Fish and Wildlife Conservation Comm. (2025), https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/wildlife/bear/plan-faqs/hunting-faqs/; Black Bear Litter Size, supra note 29.

[31] If a Female with Cubs was Killed During the Hunt, Can the Cubs Survive on Their Own? Comment to 2015 Florida Black Bear Hunt FAQs, Fla. Fish and Wildlife Conservation Comm, https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/wildlife/bear/plan-faqs/hunting-faqs/ (last visited Mar. 18, 2026).

[32] Family Breakup, N. Amer. Bear Ctr., https://bear.org/bear-facts/family-breakup/ (last visited Mar. 18, 2026).

[33] Kenneth D. Elowe & Wendell E. Dodge, Factors Affecting Black Bear Reproductive Success and Cub Survival, The J. of Wildlife Mgmt 53, no. 4 (1989) 962, 964.

[34] The Florida Black Bear Hunt–Aftermath, Libra Lionheart,  https://libralionheart.com/2015/11/01/the-florida-black-bear-hunt-aftermath/.

[35] Life Expectancy and Mortality Comment to Life Expectancy, Fla. Fish and Wildlife Conservation Comm., https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/wildlife/bear/facts/life-expectancy/ (last visited Mar. 18, 2026).

[36] The Florida Black Bear Hunt – Aftermath, supra note 34.

[37] Jim Waymer, Should We Change the Makeup of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission?, Fla. Today (Apr. 14, 2025), https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/state/2025/04/14/florida-legislators-bills-propose-change-makeup-fwc-commission/82877803007/.

[38] Stay updated: Current legislative bills monitored by the Conservancy, SJR 1364: Joint Resolution/Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Conservancy of Southwest Fla., https://conservancy.org/stay-updated-current-legislative-bills/.

[39] Living in Bear Country Comment to Living with Bears, Fla. Fish and Wildlife Conservation Comm., https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/wildlife/bear/living/ (last visited on Mar. 18, 2026) [hereinafter Living in Bear Country Comment].

[40] Id.

[41] A Fed Bear is a Dead Bear Comment to Living with Bears, Florida. Fish and Wildlife Conservation Comm., https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/wildlife/bear/living/ (last visited on Mar. 18, 2026).

[42] Id.

[43] Id.

[44] Id.

[45] Id.

[46] Living in Bear Country Comment, supra note 39.

[47] Product Testing, Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Ctr, https://www.grizzlydiscoveryctr.org/product-testing (last visited Mar. 18, 2026).

[48] The Florida Black Bear Hunt – Aftermath, supra note 34.

[49] Seminole Cty., Fla., Ord. No. 1696-16 (2016).

[50] Brianna Grant, Florida is About to Start its First black Bear Hunting Season in 10 Years, Humane World for Animals (Nov. 5, 2025), https://www.humaneworld.org/en/all-animals/florida-black-bear-hunts (residents made nearly 700 complaints in 2015 prior to adoption of the ordinance, compared to 308 complaints made in 2024).

[51] Martin E. Comas, Encounters with Bears Plummet in Florida County After Tougher Rules on Garbage, Tampa Bay Times (Mar. 24, 2025), https://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/2025/03/24/seminole-county-bear-sightings-florida-trash-garbage-waste/.