1. Saving Florida’s Black Bears Stopping the hunt in 2015

2. History of bear hunting in Florida  1974 – FL Black Bear listed as threatened – estimated 300-500 population. Hunting still allowed.  1994 – Hunting stopped statewide  2002 – Bear population estimated @ 3,000  2012 – FL black bear removed from “threatened” list  2015 – FL Fish & Wildlife Commission proposes re-opening hunt with proposed 275+ bears to be killed

3. 2002 Bear Population

4. Threats to bears

5. Human-Bear Conflicts

7. FWC report on recent injuries

10. FWC plan to reduce human/bear conflicts

11. FWC Proposal – Minimum 275 bears to be killed!

12. Hunting Proposal  Special Use Permit - $100 for FL residents, $300 out-of-state residents  1 week: Oct 24-30  No hunting within 100 yards from deer or hog feeding station (hunters want baiting changed)  No hunting w/dogs, but dogs allowed to trail injured bear (hunters want changed to allow dogs to tree bear)  No cubs or bears less than 100 lbs

13. Science on our side!  No correlation between hunting and HBC.  8 scientific studies, including one published in 2014, find no evidence that hunting would result in less HBC.  Many more studies emphasize that employing non-lethal co-existence techniques, such as using bear-proof trash cans in bear zones along with code enforcement, can successfully resolve human-bear conflicts.

14. Timeline  Bear hunting proposal will be discussed and voted on at the Wildlife Commission Meeting in Tallahassee on April 15 th  2 nd and final vote will take place at June commission meeting in Sarasota  If approved, over 275 bears will be hunted and killed in FL forests for the first time in 20 years this October

15. Hounding: Florida Next?

16. Baiting: Florida Next?

17. Bears Need Your Voice!

18. Action Needed  Call Governor Rick Scott at (850) 488-7146  Call and email your state legislators and  Call Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (850) 488-4676 & Commissioners@MyFWC.com Commissioners@MyFWC.com  Ask them to stop the bear hunt and focus on effective, non-lethal conflict prevention.  Attend FWC hearings on the issue on April 15 in Tallahassee and in June in Sarasota and speak out against the hunt.

19. Thank you for your support and for helping us try to save our Florida black bears!