Florida's black bear population rebounded from near extinction to become one of the state's greatest conservation success stories.
Wildlife officials brought the species back from just several hundred bears in the 1970s to more than 4,000 today through decades of careful management.
But the results of Florida’s bear hunt exposed these animal rights groups’ sabotage scheme.
Gaming The System
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission issued 172 hunting permits for the December 2025 hunt.
More than 160,000 people applied for those permits at $5 per application.
But dozens of those applications came from activists who never intended to hunt a single bear.
The Sierra Club of Florida and Bear Warriors United organized a scheme to secure as many permits as possible to keep them out of hunters' hands.¹
Sierra Club Florida director Susannah Randolph admitted the group and its allies secured 52 of the 172 permits — nearly one-third of all available tags.²
Bear Warriors United went even further by offering hunters $2,000 to surrender their permits.
Executive director Katrina Shadix said at least 37 people inquired about taking the money.³
"I had to ask all of the hunters why they weren't going to kill a bear," Shadix stated. "One simply wanted Christmas presents for his family."⁴
The group ended up paying 14 hunters a total of $31,000 to hand over their tags.⁵
The Numbers Tell The Real Story
When Florida released the final tally on December 30, just 52 bears were harvested during the three-week season that ran from December 6 through December 28.⁶
https://twitter.com/theapopkavoice/status/2007100191527309657?s=20
That's only 30% of the available permits — far below what wildlife managers expected based on similar hunts in other states.
FWC Executive Director Roger Young called the hunt "a success" based on "sound scientific data."⁷
But the artificially low numbers had nothing to do with conservation and everything to do with organized sabotage.
Bear Warriors United celebrated the results in a statement claiming the "low kill numbers" proved bear hunting is "wildly unpopular with Floridians."⁸
They're not telling you that activists deliberately gamed the lottery system and paid hunters to sit out the season.
The 2025 hunt looked nothing like the disaster of 2015, when unlimited permits led to 304 bears killed in just two days — including at least 38 females with cubs.⁹
That chaotic event was shut down early and sparked international criticism.
This time, FWC implemented strict controls with permits tied to the maximum number of female bears that could be removed without harming the population.
Wildlife Management Versus Radical Activism
Florida joins more than 30 states that use regulated hunting as a wildlife management tool for black bear populations.¹⁰
The state's black bear was listed as threatened from 1974 to 2012, when officials removed it from the endangered species list after the population recovered.¹¹
FWC receives an average of 6,300 bear-related calls every year as human-bear conflicts increase.¹²
https://twitter.com/FLVoiceNews/status/2006697005263786287?s=20
But animal rights groups filed lawsuits, organized protests, and brought busloads of demonstrators to the state capitol trying to halt the hunt.
A Leon County circuit judge denied their emergency injunction request, and the hunt proceeded as planned.¹³
"Eighty percent of Floridians are against the Florida black bear hunt," Shadix claimed without citing any actual polling data.¹⁴
If that were true, why did more than 160,000 Floridians apply for just 172 permits?
The math doesn't add up unless you count the activists who applied with no intention of hunting.
These groups spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on $5 lottery applications and $31,000 in direct payments to sabotage a legal, scientifically managed wildlife program.
That money could have gone toward the bear-proof garbage cans and habitat conservation they claim to support.
Instead, they chose to undermine the constitutional authority of Florida's wildlife commission to manage the state's natural resources.
FWC Chief Conservation Officer George Warthen explained the bigger picture that activists ignore.
"Hunting is an effective tool for managing wildlife populations around the world and is a key part of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation," Warthen said. "It's about helping bears succeed over the long term in our state."¹⁵
The colonel commanding FWC's law enforcement division reported strong compliance during the hunt, with only one minor warning issued and zero citations.¹⁶
Every harvested bear was physically inspected by FWC staff and contractors to collect biological data that will shape future management decisions.
A full harvest report is expected in the coming months.
Bear Warriors United has a lawsuit pending against FWC scheduled for trial in August 2026 in Tallahassee.¹⁷
They're seeking depositions of FWC officials and pushing to block any future hunts — even though Florida's bear population continues growing.
The 2025 hunt exposed what happens when radical activists care more about their political agenda than actual wildlife conservation.
They proved they'll spend whatever it takes to sabotage legal hunting, even when the science supports it.
Florida's bears survived near-extinction through sound management and careful conservation.
They don't need activists buying up hunting permits to "save" them from a population control measure that 30 other states use successfully.
¹ Associated Press, "Florida's rare and controversial black bear hunt kills 52," ABC News, December 30, 2025.
² CBS 12 News, "Florida bear hunt sparks tension as groups buy up permits, offer cash to hunters," December 7, 2025.
³ Ibid.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ FOX 35 Orlando, "Florida bear hunt: 52 black bears killed, FWC says," December 30, 2025.
⁶ Michelle Vecerina, "Florida wildlife officials declare 2025 Black Bear Hunt a success with 52 harvested," Florida News, December 31, 2025.
⁷ Ibid.
⁸ FOX 13 Tampa Bay, "Florida bear hunt: 52 black bears killed, FWC says," December 30, 2025.
⁹ Associated Press, op. cit.
¹⁰ Vecerina, op. cit.
¹¹ Florida Wildlife Federation, "Florida Black Bear," August 13, 2025.
¹² NRA Hunters' Leadership Forum, "It's Back! Florida Approves A Black Bear Hunt," 2025.
¹³ WPTV, "Florida's 2025 bear hunt faces protests and high-stakes court battle," November 14, 2025.
¹⁴ Orlando Weekly, "Opponents ask DeSantis to stop the 2025 Florida bear hunt," November 18, 2025.
¹⁵ WFLA, "Florida black bear hunt: FWC releases results of controversial 2025 hunting season," December 30, 2025.
¹⁶ Vecerina, op. cit.
¹⁷ WFLX, "Florida's first black bear hunt in nearly a decade ends amid ongoing controversy," December 30, 2025.
