The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission could finalize plans Wednesday for the first black bear hunt in the state in more than two decades.
The FWC has already given tentative approval to the one-week-in-October hunt, when hunters would be allowed to kill hundreds of the animals—one per hunter.
Calls for a renewed black bear hunt in Florida come after a surge in the number of dangerous bear-human encounters.
Animal rights and environmental groups are against the hunt, saying there’s no way to know exactly how many bears there are and that killing bears in the woods won’t end suburban encounters.
State officials believe the once threatened species now numbers about 3 thousand, mostly in the Ocala National Forest and Big Cypress National Preserve.
