The hunt, which will span up to one week and allow up to 320 black bears to be killed, aims to stabilize a population that has rebounded to more than 3,000 from several hundred in the 1970s, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Hunting enthusiasts have defended such hunts in Florida and elsewhere as necessary to manage expanding numbers of bears and other large animals that threaten humans, while animal rights activists have decried the trend as cruel and ineffective.
Tensions over big-game hunting rekindled with Florida bear hunt
