Opponents push for federal protection after Florida’s black bear hunt ends

Florida’s black bear hunt ended this season with far fewer bears killed than during the state’s last hunt nearly a decade ago — but opponents said the lower numbers did not signal the end of the fight.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission data showed 172 black bear permits were issued during the three-week hunt, with 52 bears taken statewide. Opponents of the hunt said the outcome reflected a coordinated effort to limit the harvest, not a resolution to their concerns.

During Florida’s previous bear hunt in 2015, 304 bears were killed in just two days, prompting widespread backlash and years of debate over how the species should be managed.

Chuck O’Neal, president of the conservation group Speak Up Wekiva, said this year’s results were a significant improvement — but not a long-term solution.

“Actually, the hunt went better than I had expected. We'd expected to lose 120 bears,” O’Neal said. 

O’Neal said conservation groups and individuals opposed to the hunt intentionally bought up permits through the lottery system with no intention of hunting, a strategy he described as a temporary measure.

“We secured and sequestered 52 of the tags through the lottery,” O’Neal said, adding that several hunters who opposed the hunt also obtained permits and chose not to participate. 

With the hunt over, O’Neal said opponents were shifting their focus to seeking federal threatened status for the Florida black bear — even if it required legal action.

If the bear were federally listed, O’Neal said it would not only end hunting but also expand protections for bear habitat across the state.

“You will see, in addition to ending the hunting, protections put in place for their habitat,” O’Neal said, citing concerns about habitat fragmentation, development, and long-term population health.

Florida’s black bears were placed on the state’s threatened species list in 1974, when the population was estimated between 300 and 500statewide. Hunting was later closed statewide in 1994, and by 2002, the population rebounded to an estimated 3,000 bears. A decade later, the species was removed from the state’s threatened list.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission viewed the latest hunt as a success.

FWC Executive Director Roger Young said the 2025 hunt was “rooted in sound scientific data” and that the limited number of permits reflected a conservative approach designed to “ensure the long-term health of bear populations in Florida.”

FWC Chief Conservation Officer George Warthen said regulated hunting was “an effective tool for managing wildlife populations” and part of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, adding that it was intended to guide an iconic species into the future “for their benefit and ours.”

 FWC officials also stated that the hunt provided valuable biological data that would help inform future management decisions.

O’Neal disputed that the raw numbers told the full story, pointing to population estimates in some bear management units that he said showed declines over time. He also raised concerns about habitat loss and inbreeding as development continues across Florida.

 “It’s hard to say that this is a good outcome,” O’Neal said. “But it’s the least worst outcome that we could have expected.”

He said conservation groups are already preparing to use the same permit-buying strategy again if another hunt occurred in 2026, encouraging opponents to obtain hunting licenses to participate in future lotteries.

FWC said it was still analyzing data from this year’s hunt and planned to release a full harvest report in the coming months.