ORLANDO, Fla. – This weekend marks the end of the statewide bear hunt, which has been underway since Dec. 6.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said 172 permits were issued for this bear hunt, which began earlier this month, and only one bear is allowed per permit.
Several wildlife advocates said they are concerned because the agency has still not provided updated numbers on how many bears have been killed.
[VIDEO: ‘No data, no oversight:’ Florida bear hunt draws criticism from conservation group]
Chuck O’Neal with Speak Up for Wildlife said the lack of transparency is troubling.
“This executive director — we called on him to shut down the hunt and release the numbers. He has done nothing,” O’Neal said. “The last commission at least realized in 2016 that this was a fiasco, and they shut it down completely for nine more years.”
During the last bear hunt in 2015, hunters killed around 300 bears in just a couple of days, reaching the limit set for the entire week-long hunt. O’Neal said his organization worked closely with the FWC director at the time to monitor those numbers.
“Last time around, we had our monitors at the check station on the phone with the executive director throughout the first day,” O’Neal said.
[VIDEO: Why we may not learn how many Florida black bears have been hunted just yet]
O’Neal said that cooperation no longer exists and believes the current administration has not been transparent about this hunt.
“It’s ridiculous. It’s a total mismanagement of the resource, and we hope there’s some accountability somewhere down the line,” he said.
O’Neal said Speak Up for Wildlife filed a public records request seeking information on how many bears were killed, in which zones, and how many were females or cubs, but said they have not received a response.
“The whole thing has been very shady, in my opinion. I believe the people of Florida deserve a lot better,” O’Neal said.
The FWC estimates there are more than 4,000 bears statewide. According to the agency, only 18 permits were issued in Central Florida.
News 6 also submitted a public records request earlier this month seeking the same information. As soon as the agency responds, we will bring you the latest.