Breaking Update:
For the first time in ten years, Florida will allow black bear hunting. In a highly controversial unanimous vote Wednesday, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) approved a rule package creating a regulated hunting season starting December 2025 — a decision met with cheers from hunters in orange shirts and outrage from environmental activists, some of whom vowed to take the fight to court.
The new rules set a 23-day hunting season from the first Saturday in December to the last Sunday of the month. It will be limited to designated Bear Hunt Zones within larger Bear Management Units, with permits issued through a random draw and harvest caps based on population data and female bear survival rates. The package also allows the use of hunting dogs in 2027, bear harvests near game feeding stations, and special programs for large private landowners.
Supporters, including wildlife managers and hunting advocates, argue the hunt is necessary to manage the state’s estimated 3,800 black bears and curb rising human-bear encounters — including a recent fatal attack in Collier County. “Somebody going to end up getting killed,” said hunter Rodney Roberts. “They’re just… getting closer to families and kids and everything.”
Others, like Daniel Crawford, think the bear population has grown large enough to accommodate recreational hunting. “I’m an avid dog hunter,” he said. “ I would really like to see us have the ability to do something that my dad, grandfather, my great grandfather did in the same tradition.“
Opponents call the move unscientific and driven by politics. Raquel Levy, an attorney for Bear Warriors United, held up a lawsuit outside the meeting. “We believe the FWC has violated their own rules. This is wrong. We do not have an overpopulation of bears. We have an overpopulation of greed and of money and of people trying to take away their habitat,” Levy said. She accused commissioners of relying on “very stale data” and promised immediate legal action in Leon County administrative court.
Levy linked bear encounters to Florida’s rapid development. “Virgin, lush, green land is being bulldozed by the tens of thousands of acres, leaving wildlife displaced… Conservation does not begin and end with a bullet,” she said.
Animal advocates warned the hunt would worsen risks, not reduce them. “More guns will be bought. More bullets will be,” said Kristin Rubin. “Who does this really help? Not the bear.”
With more than 10,000 public comments submitted before the meeting — and more than 160 people speaking Wednesday — the vote underscored deep divisions over how Florida should balance human safety, habitat loss, and wildlife management.
The bear hunt will go forward unless a court blocks it — a possibility Levy says could be decided in the coming weeks.
Breaking:
FWC commissioners voted to unanimously approve hunt rules without amendment. They’re now set to take effect in September. Florida will then begin its first black bear hunt in a decade this December. Hunting dogs will be allowed in 2027.
This is a developing story.
Original:
Florida wildlife officials are set to make a historic and highly contentious decision Wednesday that could open the door to black bear hunting in the Sunshine State for the first time in a decade.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) will meet at 8:30 a.m. in Havana, where commissioners are expected to hold a final vote on a rule package they preliminarily approved in May. The proposal would create a regulated black bear hunting season starting December 2025 — a move supporters say is needed to manage growing bear populations, but critics argue is unnecessary and cruel.
FWC staff say the purpose of the hunt is to “manage the bear population through a conservative, well-regulated bear hunt” and keep numbers in balance with available habitat.
Under the plan, hunting would be limited to specific Bear Hunt Zones within larger Bear Management Units, with permits issued via a random draw and caps based on population data and female bear survival rates. The initial season would run 23 days — from the first Saturday in December to the last Sunday of the month — with future dates set annually. The rules would also allow the use of dogs to hunt bears, harvest near game feeding stations, and a special program for large private landowners.
Public feedback has been extensive: more than 10,000 comments have been submitted since the proposal was introduced. Wednesday’s meeting is expected to draw even more— hundreds of protesters and activists, many from animal rights and environmental groups.
It comes as attorneys for Bear Warriors United say they plan to file a lawsuit in Leon County’s administrative court aimed at blocking the hunt. The group said to expect the filing by Tuesday evening.
The issue has divided Floridians. Proponents, including wildlife managers and hunting advocates, point to an estimated statewide black bear population of roughly 3,800 and rising reports of human-bear encounters — including a fatal attack in Collier County — as signs that intervention is needed. Opponents counter that habitat loss and unsecured trash, not overpopulation, are driving conflicts, and that killing bears is the wrong approach.
FWC Chair Rodney Barreto has called hunting “a biologically sound method to slow population growth”, while activists have labeled the plan “trophy hunting” and promised to keep fighting.
With a final decision now— potentially— just hours away, Havana is bracing for a showdown that could shape Florida wildlife policy for years to come.
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