Groups Want Protections For FL Black Bears
Posted March 28, 2016 06:50 am | Public News Service
Photo:
Florida Forrest Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL – While state wildlife officials say Florida's black bear population is on the rise, a coalition of scientists believes more needs to be done to preserve and protect the animals and their habitat.
Dozens of scientific, environmental, and conservation groups are backing a petition to have the Florida black bear protected under the federal Endangered Species Act.
Jaclyn Lopez, the Florida director for the Center for Biological Diversity, says last year was particularly deadly for the black bear.
"The number of bears we lost to just human forces - not
even the background factors, like the effect of habitat
loss or even just natural mortality, but human factors
alone - we lost about 15 to 20 percent of the
population," says Lopez.
The state estimates the adult black bear population to
be about 4,300, however its surveys were conducted prior
to last year's hunt, in which more than 300 bears were
killed in two days.
A spokesperson for the Fish and Wildlife Commission says
there is no "magic number" at which a species would be
listed as endangered, and that the petition will be
reviewed in the next 90 days.
While the overall number of bears may be on the rise,
Lopez says it doesn't change the fact that the
populations are extremely fragmented and face mounting
threats from human population growth.
She says that will further isolate them from each other
and, if current policies continue, make the bears and
other species increasingly vulnerable.
"Lots of other species and animals and plants depend on
the same habitat that the bear depends on," Lopez
explains. "So, using the bear as sort of an umbrella
species to have this conversation, the agencies and our
elected officials have failed us, and have failed the
bear."
Last year's bear hunt was the first in the state in more
than two decades. State officials have not yet decided
if there will be another hunt this year.
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