The Gannett owned Florida News-Press accurately depicts what many of us feel is the norm rather than the exception as it relates to State Game Commissions instituting carnivore hunts without really understanding the population dynamics of the species in question............In this case, the Florida Fish and Game folks initiating a week long Black Bear hunt starting October 24 of this year.........Almost 80% of the 40,000 comments directed to the Commission urged NO HUNT as the bruin population has shrunk from an estimated 11,000 bears 21 years ago to what most believe are about 3000 today...........The human population has jumped 17% in the same period of time and with roads, housing, shopping malls, etc, etc, the Bears are getting squeezed and thus there is more contact between them and us................"On the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission's website is the message: "preventing access to food is the most important thing you can do to keep bears wild and out of your neighborhood".............. "The commission needs to heed its own message and continue to teach Floridians the importance of leaving the animal alone"............. "This should be about cleaning up after ourselves and a better understanding of wildlife, not about yet another way to kill an animal"

Check out this story on news-press.com: http://newspr.es/1IoIVHj

More research, fewer

 killings, better for bears

6:13 p.m. EDT June 29, 2015

(Photo: Andrew West / The News-Press)