Florida holds first bear hunt in 20 yrs amid activists' outcry

The US state of Florida has allowed licensed hunters to kill a total of 320 black bears as it holds the first bear hunt in more than two decades to check the growing population of predators.
The state's Wildlife Conservation Commission is allowing the licensed hunters to kill the black bears whose population has grown to 3,500 - up from a few hundred in the 1970s - and threaten humans.
The commission has issued nearly 4,000 permits to hunters, triggering outcry from animal rights campaigners who have termed the move as unnecessary.
"There has been a need to make seasons longer, make them more liberal, because there have been so many predators and they're not as controlled as they should be," said Nick Pinizzotto, president and chief executive officer of the Sportsmen's Alliance.

The activists, however, termed the hunt as unnecessary, saying the state should instead focus on waste management and curbing the smell of food in garbage.
"Research overwhelmingly shows that hunting bears in the woods doesn't reduce problems with bears in neighbourhoods. The state would be better off helping citizens manage trash and outdoor food sources," said Kate MacFall from the Humane Society of the United States.

More than 200 bears were killed yesterday. The hunters included a 16-year-old boy who said he fulfilled a dream when he killed an 80 kilogramme bear.
The first bear to be killed was a lactating female. The hunt had been timed so the youngest bear cubs would be about nine months old and able to survive on their own, wildlife officials told the Orlando Sentinel newspaper.

Opponents photographed the dead bears as they arrived at designated delivery points in the hope that the images would undermine support for future hunts.
Officials said the black bear population had grown to 3,500 - up from a few hundred in the 1970s - and presented a safety problem.
At least four Florida residents have been injured in bear attacks in the past two years, mostly in the suburbs north of Orlando.
On Friday a bear attacked a man near the town of Eastpoint, leaving him with non-life threatening injuries.
A black bear killed a hiker in New Jersey last year, the first fatal attack in the state in recorded history.

The Wildlife department's advice on encountering black bears is to remain standing upright and speak to the bear in a calm, assertive voice while backing up slowly towards a secure area and leaving the bear a clear escape route.