Hunting season is approaching, and bears are the primary target.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission recently approved a quota for the upcoming bear hunt in four parts of the state from Oct. 24 to Oct. 30. Hunters will be allowed to kill up to 320 animals in the East Panhandle and in North, Central and South areas of Florida.
Gainesville and Ocala, which are part of the central section, will most likely see hunters in October because of the large bear population in Ocala.
“One of the biggest (areas) is Ocala, North Ocala National Forest toward Lake City,” said Matt Bledsoe, the assistant park manager at Paynes Prairie.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s most recent survey in 2014, the Ocala and St. Johns areas had an average of 1,297 bears that year compared to the 1,025 bears in 2002, a 27 percent increase.
Some students are not looking at the FWC’s decision as a positive one.
“As we push forward in the future being a so-called ‘eco-friendly’ age, we need to be adaptive in all aspects of the nature that is around us, not against it,” said Melissa Franklin, a 20-year-old UF biomedical engineering junior.
However, Will Rembert, 21, said he believes the population of black bears is increasing so rapidly that they will soon push into cities like Gainesville unless people hunt them. After a black bear wandered into his friend’s backyard 30 minutes from Gainesville, Rembert said he thought bears might seem cute, but are not animals to mess with.
“Someone has got to do it,” the Santa Fe forestry freshman said. “Populations need to be controlled. The only way to control them is to allow people to kill them.”
