Activists tried everything to stop Florida from holding its first bear hunt in a decade.
They filed lawsuits, staged protests, and even bought up hunting permits hoping to save bears.
But a Florida judge just crushed animal rights activists who tried shutting down the bear hunt.
Court Clears Path After Bear Warriors United Lawsuit Fails
Leon County Circuit Judge Angela Dempsey rejected Bear Warriors United's request for a temporary injunction on November 24, clearing the way for Florida's first bear hunt since 2015 to begin December 6.
The conservation group claimed the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission approved the hunt using "obsolete" population data and without sound science.
Judge Dempsey wasn't buying it.
She ruled that Bear Warriors United failed to show "substantial likelihood of success on the merits" in their lawsuit challenging the hunt.¹
The judge noted the group participated fully in the FWC's rulemaking process, attending public workshops and meetings where commissioners voted unanimously to approve the hunt.
"This becomes Bear Warriors whining about what they did not get," FWC's acting deputy general counsel Rhonda Parnell argued. "They didn't get what they wanted, because they didn't want a bear hunt."²
https://twitter.com/1800factsmatter/status/1996319387825877445?s=20
The court sided with the FWC's constitutional authority to manage wildlife.
Bear Warriors United filed their 15-page lawsuit in September, contending the commission violated several legal requirements by using bear population estimates from 2015.
But Michael Orlando, the FWC's bear program coordinator, testified that population studies remain valid for years based on female survival rates, birth rates, and death rates.
"All of that is the best available science that we have and we make decisions based on that," Orlando told the judge.³
The FWC maintains Florida's black bear population has grown from just a few hundred in the 1970s to more than 4,000 today.
That dramatic recovery is exactly why hunting opponents wanted bears protected.
But that same success story is why the FWC approved a limited hunt to manage the growing population.
This Year's Hunt Fixes Mistakes From Disastrous 2015 Season
The 2015 bear hunt turned into a public relations nightmare for Florida wildlife officials.
The state issued unlimited permits for $100 each, and more than 3,700 hunters flooded into the woods.
What was supposed to be a week-long hunt with 320 bears killed ended after just two days when hunters had already bagged 304 bears.
Hunters in the Panhandle blew past their limit of 40 bears and killed 112.⁴
Reports emerged of mother bears shot while nursing cubs, with critics claiming more than 100 cubs were orphaned.
The 2025 hunt learned from those mistakes.
Instead of unlimited permits, the FWC is issuing just 172 permits total through a lottery system.
Each permit allows one bear to be harvested in a specific designated zone.
The hunt runs from December 6 through December 28 in four Bear Management Units: the East Panhandle, North, Central, and South regions.
Hunters faced stiff competition for those limited permits.
More than 100,000 applications flooded in for the 172 available spots.⁵
Conservation groups tried getting creative to stop the hunt.
The Sierra Club encouraged opponents to apply for permits, hoping their names would be drawn and bears would be saved.
At least 43 of the 172 permits went to hunt opponents who never intend to use them.⁶
That strategy might save a few dozen bears, but it won't stop the hunt.
Fatal Attack Sparked Renewed Push For Population Management
The debate over bear hunting took a dark turn in May when 89-year-old Robert Markel became Florida's first documented victim of a fatal black bear attack.
Markel's remains were found about 100 yards from his home in Jerome, just south of Big Cypress Wildlife Management Area.
His dog was also killed.⁷
The FWC killed three bears in the area, and DNA testing confirmed that a 263-pound male bear contained Markel's partial remains.⁸
The attack occurred in the South Bear Management Unit, which has the state's third-largest bear population with an estimated 1,044 animals in 2015.
That number has undoubtedly grown.
The FWC receives an average of 6,300 bear-related calls annually and has documented 42 incidents where wild black bears made physical contact with people since the 1970s.⁹
Most of those encounters involved a person with a dog present.
Bear-human conflicts are increasing as Florida's population explodes and development pushes deeper into bear habitat.
The FWC receives 16 bear-related calls within a 10-mile radius of Copeland alone.¹⁰
Hunt supporters argue the hunt is necessary to keep bear numbers in line with available habitat.
FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto defended the commission's decision: "I am proud that Florida is joining the majority of states that manage black bears with regulated hunting. The components of the hunt are conservative and prioritize conservation, with a limited number of permits only being issued in the areas of the state where populations can sustain it."¹¹
Of the 40 states with resident black bear populations, 35 allow regulated bear hunting.
Florida was the outlier for refusing to manage its bear population through hunting despite explosive growth.
The state's 2019 bear management plan acknowledged hunting as a legitimate management tool, yet environmental groups fought any attempt to implement it.
Environmental Activists Playing Political Games With Wildlife Management
Bear Warriors United's lawsuit never had legs.
The group argued the FWC removed black bears from the state's threatened species list improperly in 2012, claiming the commission failed to account for threats to habitat.
That ship sailed 13 years ago.
Multiple courts have ruled the FWC has exclusive constitutional authority to determine hunting seasons in Florida.
Judge Dempsey noted the 2015 hunt was found constitutional under rational basis review, and this year's hunt is significantly more conservative with fewer bears allowed to be harvested.¹²
Environmental groups are playing politics with wildlife management.
Bear Warriors United Executive Director Katrina Shadix admitted her real concern: "Florida is facing a crisis right now with deforestation and urban sprawl."¹³
That's a land use issue, not a bear management issue.
The FWC isn't responsible for Florida's development patterns.
Its job is managing wildlife populations based on the habitat that exists, not the habitat activists wish existed.
Critics claim hunters just want trophy animals.
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But the 172 permits issued this year represent less than 5% of Florida's bear population.
The hunt is designed to remove primarily males and minimize female deaths to protect population growth.
Hunters are prohibited from taking bears with cubs, and bears must weigh at least 100 pounds.
Hunt opponents bought up permits thinking they could sabotage the season.
All they did was waste money on entry fees while ensuring the FWC still collects revenue to fund bear management programs.
The hunt happens with or without them.
Florida's black bears are a conservation success story.
The population rebounded from near extinction to healthy numbers because of science-based management.
Now that same science-based approach requires adjusting bear numbers to match available habitat.
Environmental activists want to freeze wildlife management in place because it fits their political narrative.
That's not conservation.
That's ideology disguised as animal welfare.
The court saw through it, and Florida's bear hunt begins Saturday.
¹ Jim Turner, "Judge refuses to halt Florida's bear hunt," WUSF, November 25, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ "Lawsuit to halt 2025 Florida bear hunt rejected by Leon County judge," CBS Miami, November 25, 2025.
⁴ "Florida's controversial black bear hunt ends after second day," CBS News, October 26, 2015.
⁵ "Florida kicks off first black bear hunt in a decade, despite pushback," ABC News, December 6, 2025.
⁶ Ibid.
⁷ "FWC confirms fatal bear attack in Collier County," Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, May 9, 2025.
⁸ Ibid.
⁹ Ibid.
¹⁰ Ibid.
¹¹ "It's Back! Florida Approves A Black Bear Hunt," NRA Hunters' Leadership Forum, August 18, 2025.
¹² "Judge refuses to halt Florida's bear hunt," WUSF, November 25, 2025.
¹³ "On the eve of the proposed bear hunt vote, Bear Warriors United files a lawsuit," WFSU News, August 12, 2025.
