Florida black bear

At the December 2024 meeting, the Commissioners directed staff to return to a future Commission meeting to propose options for implementing a potential bear hunt. If Commissioners decide to re-open regulated bear hunting, it would provide access to the resource and manage the population. Hunting would allow the FWC to start managing population growth rates for the Bear Management Units, or BMUs, with the largest bear subpopulations. Slowing population growth will help balance population numbers with suitable habitat, and hunting is an important and effective tool that is used to manage wildlife populations across the world. While we have enough suitable bear habitat to support our current bear population levels, if the four largest subpopulations continue to grow at current rates, we will not have enough habitat at some point in the future.  The FWC would not want to wait to implement management actions until that occurs because that could result in dramatic swings in the population and risk overall chances.

The FWC’s Bear Management and Research Programs have collected and analyzed data and determined that four of the seven Bear Management Units could be hunted in a sustainable manner without decreasing the bear population. The FWC has set the number of permits available to equal the maximum number of female bears that could be removed without reducing the population in each Bear Management Unit. This is a more conservative approach because it is highly unlikely that the bears harvested each year would all be female and that hunters would have a 100% success rate.

You can watch the recording of the March 13 virtual public meeting by accessing the Teams link. Please note that if you plan to watch this on a mobile device, you must have the Teams app installed.

You can also review a transcript of the comments from this meeting and the virtual flipchart.

You can watch the recordings of the April virtual public meetings by accessing the Vimeo links below. 

April 2: https://vimeo.com/1073539169

April 3: https://vimeo.com/1073697606

April 5: https://vimeo.com/1073684014

Yes, the public had multiple opportunities to share their comments, concerns, and ideas on potential options for highly regulated black bear hunting in Florida before anything was presented at a Commission meeting. Additionally, the public had the opportunity to provide comments after the proposals were first presented at the May 2025 Commission meeting.

The FWC hosted a virtual public meeting on March 13 to gather thoughts from the public about potential options for highly regulated bear hunting in Florida.

The FWC also held a series of virtual public meetings in April to collect feedback directly from Florida residents on proposals for highly regulated black bear hunting in Florida that were presented to Commissioners at our May meeting. These proposals were based on comments from the March 13 public meeting as well as meetings with stakeholder groups.

Visit the GovDelivery subscription page and choose “News - Hunting" to receive information about the potential re-opening of highly regulated black bear hunting in Florida.

FWC staff reviewed previous regulated bear hunting in Florida, as well as regulated bear hunts in other states, and reached out to the public for their comments, concerns and ideas on this topic. Staff then developed multiple proposals and brought them to the public for their feedback in April. Staff then made appropriate changes and presented proposals to Commissioners at their May 21-22, 2025, meeting.

The rule proposals are expected to be brought back before the Commission at its August 2025 meeting for a final hearing. If the final rules are approved, most changes would take effect during the 2025-26 hunting season. 

The Bear Management Program was asked to provide an update on bear management and research activities to Commissioners at the December 2024 meeting. Because the presentation was an update, and not a request for action by the Commissioners, staff indicated, "No action is requested at this time, but Commissioner input is welcome." This is standard language to have at the end of a presentation to Commissioners when the presentation was strictly an update or to inform the Commissioners about an issue and not indicative of whether a hunt was needed or not. One of the Commissioner's input was to bring proposals for a hunt to a future meeting.

The FWC reviewed previous bear hunting regulations in Florida as well as hunts in other states and public comments. Staff then developed multiple options and brought those to the public for their feedback, made appropriate changes, and presented that information to Commissioners at the May 2025 Commission meeting.

We anticipate funds generated from application and permit sales will go into the State Game Trust Fund and will be used for wildlife conservation.

The FWC is proposing to require hunters to contact FWC to coordinate staff access to the bears they harvest, which is more efficient and accomplishes the same objectives of having fixed and manned check stations.

Amendment 2 did not change FWC’s authority to make decisions on hunting or fishing. 

The FWC is only proposing hunt options that would be sustainable and would not have a negative impact on the overall population.

Using the growth model is a highly precise approach to limiting harvest while maintaining a stable population. We are using extensive information specific to each Bear Management Unit, where the number of permits is limited to the maximum number of female bears that can be harvested that would result in 0% population growth for that particular year.

The FWC is proposing to provide a limited number of permits that is equal to the maximum number of female bears that can be harvested that would result in 0% population growth for that particular year. It is not possible to exceed the quota because the number of permits issued is the quota. Even in the highly unlikely scenario of 100% female harvest and 100% hunter success rate, the population would be stable and not decline.

The rule changes do not allow the feeding of bears. The rule changes allow the harvest of bears near game feeding stations that have been set up for game other than bears.

Allowing harvest of bears at game feeding stations would allow hunters time to be more selective about which bear they take because they would have more time to observe the bear. Harvesting bears at game feeding stations is a bear hunting method used in 44% of the states, provinces and territories that allow hunting in the U.S. and Canada.

Allowing harvest of bears using dogs would allow hunters to be more selective about which bear they take because they would have more time to observe the bear while it is in a tree. Dog hunting is also a bear hunting method used in 38% of the states, provinces and territories that allow hunting in the U.S. and Canada.

If Commissioners approve the Private Landowner Bear Harvest Permit Program in August, it would not go into effect until the 2026 bear hunting season. For a private landowner to be enrolled in the program, it requires: 1) a minimum of 5,000 contiguous acres, 2) at least 50% of the area is in suitable bear habitat, 3) a Bear Habitat Management Plan approved by a Certified Wildlife Biologist, 4) an annual survey between August 1 and December 31 showing at least 5 individual bears on 5,000 to 14,999 acres to receive 1 tag, 10 individual bears on 15,000 to 24,999 acres for 2 tags, and 15 individual bears on 25,000 acres or more for 3 tags. While we do not yet know how many private landowners will be interested, we do know there are only a limited number who could qualify for the program.

Any permits provided for any approved private landowners enrolled in the private lands program would be deducted from the overall number of permits available for the Bear Management Unit.

The public was able to review the hunting proposals by going to the commenting tool, which was open between April 2 to 20, 2025. Rule language was also made available for review prior to the May 21-22, 2025, Commission meeting.

An unlimited number of permits were sold for the 2015 regulated bear hunting season, however, hunters had to contact the FWC each day to determine if the harvest objective had been met in the Bear Management Unit in which they were hunting. If the harvest objective had been met, then the hunting season would be closed. While this approach allowed the FWC to keep harvest rates within range of the harvest objective for each BMU, it put pressure on hunters to harvest the first bear they encountered in the field to avoid missing the opportunity to harvest a bear in the event the hunt was closed because the harvest objective was met. The FWC is proposing a different approach for the new regulated bear hunting season. If Commissioners approve of the proposal, the FWC would sell a limited number of permits which would equal the total amount of bears that could be harvested in one of the four open BMUs. Therefore, the season can be longer while staying within the quota which gives hunters more time to be selective of which bear they harvest.

The average cost to hunt black bears in other states, provinces and territories in North America is $55 for residents is $265 for non-residents. The FWC is proposing to charge $100 for residents and $300 for non-residents to participate in regulated bear hunting, which is 82% and 13% higher than the average costs for resident and non-residents, respectively, in other parts of North America.

The FWC is taking a conservative approach to start slowing population growth in the four largest bear management units (Central, East Panhandle, South and North BMUs). This will allow managers to see how many females are in the harvest and what hunter success rates will be and over time, allowing us to make adjustments as needed to slow population growth.

The Central Bear Management Unit (BMU) has the highest mortality levels of all the BMUs, with an average of 209 bears killed each year (84% vehicle related) without a harvest. Cub survival is lower in this BMU (38%) than the others, primarily due to infanticide (i.e., male bears killing cubs) and vehicle strikes (both when cubs are killed directly by vehicles or when adult females are killed by vehicles before cubs can survive on their own). Finally, this BMU has multiple urban areas and interstate highways surrounding the core subpopulations, which further limits its growth as some bears are reluctant to cross through dense urban areas or large highways.

Bear hunting will not be allowed in the Big Cypress National Preserve, which makes up 33% of the South Bear Management Unit. The FWC therefore reduced the total number of females allowed to harvest in the whole BMU by 33%.

The FWC tries to use easily discernable landmarks when setting up hunt zones, but there are very few options for the northern border in the South Bear Management Unit. Further, the northern end of the South BMU contains multiple public hunting lands and the FWC does not want to exclude those areas given the lack of public hunting lands in this BMU.

The best scientifically valid population estimates are from 2015 and indicate there are approximately 4,050 bears statewide. The mean estimates for each Bear Management Unit include: 120 in the West Panhandle, 1,060 in the East Panhandle, 496 in the North, 30 in the Big Bend, 1,198 in the Central, 98 in the South Central, and 1,044 in the South. 

The FWC estimates the abundance (number) of bears in each subpopulation by building hair corrals that collect tufts of hair when bears come to investigate scent lure and bait. Samples of bear hair contain genetic material that is analyzed to identify individual bears. Statistical analyses of the location and timing of when samples were collected reveal the abundance and density of bears in each study area. A video that describes this process is also available.

To estimate population growth rates, the FWC studies adult female survival, reproduction (litter size and interval), and cub survival. Studies on these demographic variables have been conducted on the East Panhandle, North, Central, and South Bear Management Units (BMUs), and all four have annual growth rates ranging from 2.2% in the Central BMU to 15.4% in the North BMU. For more details, visit the black bear research page and select the ‘Demographics’ tab.

The FWC must allow for at least one generation length (10 years for Florida black bears) between population abundance estimates to accurately track changes over time. Conducting abundance surveys too frequently for the same population would likely provide a similar estimate, possibly counting some of the same individuals from the prior survey and thus reduce our ability to detect a true change in the population.

FWC staff can use the most recent population estimates to base a regulated bear hunting harvest objective, which would be conservative given that the four large subpopulations all show increasing annual growth rates. 

The FWC’s Bear Management and Research Programs have collected and analyzed data and determined that four of the seven Bear Management Units could be hunted in a sustainable manner without decreasing the bear population (see pages 30-40 in the Bear Management Plan). However, whether bear hunting is allowed is at the discretion of the FWC’s Commissioners. 

Following the most recent statewide population estimate in 2015, multiple bear subpopulations were determined to be large and healthy enough to sustain a hunt. The FWC estimates the four largest subpopulations have grown annually since that time, and no subpopulations have shown evidence of decline.

The Bear Management Plan has minimum population objectives for each of the 7 bear subpopulations, but did not set a maximum number. Black bear populations at high numbers or densities do not negatively impact their habitat like can occur with white-tailed deer. Instead, as black bear numbers reach high enough levels, they begin to spread out from suitable habitats to more marginal habitats, where they are more impacted by humans, primarily through increased vehicle-bear mortality and human-bear conflicts.  

While all wildlife species, theoretically, will reach some population level that triggers a decline, black bear populations have not reached levels where self-regulation has been exhibited anywhere in North America. Rather, as bear numbers reach high enough levels, human presence can begin to influence bear population numbers. For example, Ocala is the largest bear subpopulation in Florida but also has the lowest annual growth rate (2.2%). While we have observed some natural population regulation mechanisms in Ocala (e.g., adult bears killing and eating cubs), the overriding population regulation is human caused, with an average of 191 bears killed each year by people (e.g., vehicle strikes, conflict removals, suspected illegal kills). Once there are enough bears in suitable habitats, bear presence will increase in marginal habitats (e.g., neighborhoods), which increases the likelihood of human-bear conflicts and the subsequent risk to public safety as well as safety for the bears. 

Data collection for the 2015 population abundance estimates were completed in the summers of 2014 and 2015 before the Fall 2015 bear hunt. Using the growth models for each of the four Bear Management Units (BMUs) that were open for hunting, it is likely that the bear populations in the East Panhandle and Central BMUs did not have a positive growth rate during that year. However, the models indicate the populations in those two BMUs would grow in subsequent years without a harvest. The bear populations in the North and South BMUs continued to grow albeit at a lower rate during the year of the hunt and then grew at a higher rate in subsequent years without a hunt.

Yes, Florida is fortunate to have abundant conservation lands throughout the state. We have looked at the results of computer models that predict where the most likely areas will be developed and compared that with where quality bear habitat is located to determine the impacts on the bear populations. Our analysis indicates that we have enough bear habitat to support our minimum and current bear population levels. However, suitable habitat could be limited at some point in the future if we maintain the current annual growth rates we have estimated for our four largest subpopulations.  

Bear management requires a comprehensive set of approaches which can include both bear population management and habitat conservation. The FWC comments on developments to mitigate impacts on wildlife; however, most development decisions are made at the county or city level. 

Despite having access to suitable habitat, bears will take advantage of easily accessible foods that can be found in neighborhoods like unsecured garbage, pet food and bird seed.

Regulated black bear hunting was allowed in Florida from the 1950s until 1994 (see page 22 to 26 in the Bear Management Plan). Bear hunting was then closed until 2015, when it was reopened in the Fall. No bear hunting has been allowed since 2015. 

For more information, please visit our 2015 Florida Black Bear Hunt FAQs page.

Of the 40 states with resident black bear populations, 34 (85%) have regulated bear hunting seasons. Of the 6 states that do not hunt their resident bear population, Florida has the most bears (estimated at over 4,000), followed by Connecticut at 1,200 bears. The remaining four states estimate their populations at 250 bears or less. More information on how other states, provinces, and territories manage their black bears is available from the International Association for Bear Research and Management. Select ‘Results of the 2022 Survey of American Black Bear Management in the United States and Canada’ 

Understanding a mammal’s diet is key to understanding whether its meat would be good to eat. Black bears are omnivores with plant material making up over 70% of their diet, similar to wild hogs. The texture of bear meat is similar to pork and like pork should be cooked thoroughly. There are multiple online sources of advice on how to prepare bear meat.  

The FWC explored multiple options to manage bear populations in the Bear Management Plan (Pages 32 to 37). State, National and International organizations recognize that increasing human-caused mortality is the only option to slow bear population growth. Of the human-caused mortality options, regulated hunting is the most effective, practical and widely used method to manage bear populations numbers. Of the 40 states with resident black bear populations, 85% use regulated black bear hunting to manage their bear populations. 

Regulated bear hunting adds a positive value on bears by providing people with additional economic and recreational opportunities. Hunters can use the meat, pelt, fat and other parts of the bear they harvest. In contrast to all other current management action options, regulated hunting generates funding for conservation.  

The FWC conducted a survey of Floridians one year after the 2015 bear hunt, and found residents were fairly evenly divided, with 48% in support of bear hunting and 43% opposed. However, when people were asked if they believed the FWC was carefully monitoring the bear population and that hunting was compatible with maintaining healthy bear numbers, their support for bear hunting increased to 62% in support and 28% opposed.  

Regulated hunting is a method to manage bear populations, not human-bear conflicts. All states that have regulated black bear hunting seasons also have human-bear conflicts. Human-bear conflicts will occur as long as attractants are easily accessible. Multiple studies have been conducted to try and determine if there is a link between regulated black bear hunting seasons and human-bear conflicts. Some studies found a link between hunting and conflicts while others did not. 

Species that are at a high risk of extinction are placed on the FWC’s list of State-designated Threatened Species. Florida black bears were on that list from 1974 to 2012. In 2011, a Biological Status Review determined that bears were no longer at high risk for extinction using the criteria in the FWC listing rule (Florida Administrative Code 68A-27.0012) which includes population size and trend, range size and trend, population concentration, reproductive potential for recovery, and ecological specialization. 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Florida Natural Areas Inventory have reviewed all information available on Florida black bears and are in agreement with the FWC that there is no need to change their current status as a game species that is commonly found throughout over half of Florida. 

Prior to the 1970’s, wildlife agencies in the U.S. and Canada did move black bears from areas with high density populations to lower density populations. Since that time, however, concerns have been raised about introducing black bears from one region to another as this could introduce parasites, diseases, disrupt behaviors, social structure or other unintended consequences of those actions. Therefore, bears are no longer typically moved from one jurisdiction to another. However, some states have moved bears from higher to lower density areas within their own jurisdictions. The Bear Management Plan discusses this and other options in detail in the population management section (pages 30-40). 

Studies indicate black bear cubs that have been orphaned at 5 months or older can survive at similar rates as cubs that were not orphaned. Florida along with many other states have guidelines for when cubs can be self-sufficient. The FWC considers a cub to be self-sufficient if it is encountered as an orphan after August 1st and/or if the cub weighs over 30 lbs. Fall hunting seasons are typically scheduled to occur between August and January, so given the average birthdate for cubs is February 1st,  a cub would be able to survive on its own if it was orphaned during the hunting season.