Asked whether bears are the biggest threat to bears, Wraithmell responds: “I don’t believe that’s supported by science right now…. In addition to habitat loss, major causes of mortality for bears in Florida are roadkill and euthanasia for nuisance bears.”
This is the video from the hearing in Ft Lauderdale.
Here are some comments I jotted down as I listened.
“Letters after Letters and we are being ignored.” (Sound familiar?)
Vivian Handy : 28 biologists redefinition was not due to the population number but when it was delisted as threatened. This will effect the success of dening. The hunt will introduce noise and fears, pregnant mothers could be short and the cubs could be shot.
People talk about Florida’s reputation. (Just kick us in the head.)
Persons with masters wetlands biologists says this ignorance greed trumping science
the humane society of the united states was there.
Chuck O’Neal: Your hunt is based on cherry picked data
We don’t even know how many bears we have!
You are appointed and not elected and you don’t have to listen to the people
we’ll see you court. We’ll see you in the media
Jon Ullman the sierra club: ” Its about development. ”
Your not going to get rid of the nuisance problem by opening up the hunt
If your going to kill something you should eat not stuff it.
I can’t believe these are the people making decisions for our animals.
There’s no explanation. This is rigged.
Ronald Bergeron, one of the commissioners, said he can’t vote for any quota is against the hunt because he doesn’t see the science. He believes that bears are an icon of Florida. He think the train has moved very rapidly.
(at about 2:00) He lays out the scenario about when hunting is appropriate.
2:08 water in the WMAS blamed sfwmd
position paper on water level (Have to go look for that)
Just so people know we have plenty of hunting in Florida but here on the FWC has proudly put a hunter with a dead bear on their website.
We NEED people to go hunting the Everglades for pythons and we need divers to go after Lionfish. We have alligator hunting, hog hunting, deer hunting, dove hunting, duck/waterfoul hunting, Raccoon, opossum, skunk, nutria, beaver, coyote, bobcat, and river otter, Quail, turkey and wild hogs.
Dove hunting really?
apparently so. If you google dove recipes there are plenty. Like this one.
I’ve written a few blogs in the past about our Black Bear situation but it’s really has come to critical mass and we must do something to stop the madness that is going on in Florida right now. We have been taken over by a bunch of loonies with a plan of their own. Not just for us but for our treasures panthers, manatees and black bears.
At one time the Black Bear was endangered. Now we have a fabulous healthy population. What do they do? They kill them.
“(From a post by Fred Bohler) Cubs will stay with their mother for 18-24 months. When i was with FWC, the rule was , cubs of a deceased female that were under 35 pounds were euthanized. Cubs 35 -50 pounds were left on their own and had about a 10-20% chance of survival respectively. Obviously without proper foraging/ hunting skills , most cubs are doomed. Male bears will readily hunt them down and kill them. I was involved with one of the few rehabilitation efforts for a cub to be released back into the wild by FWC. Even that had its problems, once again, man could not be trusted not to imprint the cub. The release was marginally successful.”
This week we all saw this fabulous video on the news. “Der’s bears in da pool. They took my floaties.”
How can we as humans watch this video and then allow hunters to hunt mothers and then euthanize the cubs. Most of Floridians are against hunting the bears and I’m sure no life loving person could be ok with killing a mother and euthanizing their cubs. If they are then they are hypocrites. 61% percent of Floridians are against this.
“A state-wide poll commissioned by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) earlier this year showed that 61% of Floridians were against bear hunting, with overwhelming majorities favoring educational outreach programs and the widespread use of bear-proof garbage cans. When the HSUS delivered a petition to Governor Rick Scott with 90,000 names calling upon him to block the hunt, Scott deferred to the Republican-packed FWC, whose chairman, Richard Corbett, dismissed the concerns of these Florida citizens in the following way:
“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service expects to announce a decision later this year on a petition from the Pacific Legal Foundation to reclassify the manatee from endangered to threatened. The petition was submitted on behalf of Save Crystal River, a group of property owners concerned about boating restrictions in King’s Bay in Citrus County.
“Those people don’t know what they’re talking about. Most of those people have never been in the woods. They think we’re talking about teddy bears. “Oh Lord, don’t hurt my little teddy bear!’ Well these bears are dangerous…. Do you want blood on your hands? We don’t. We have taken a step.”
A step towards murdering a mother and leaving her babies to die.
Don’t be a hypocrite.
This is what we can do to help.
There are two paid and four volunteer attorneys working on the lawsuit against the FWC to stop the hunt. You can help pay the legal expenses by donating to the legal fund. All donations, large or small, are greatly appreciated.
Here is the link to the gofundme account to pay for this.
If we can all give ten bucks that’s a lot of bucks that will help for this lawsuit.
2) If you are unable to donate monetarily, you can donate some time by helping to spread the word via Facebook, Twitter, email and letters to the editor. You can also help the cause receive a $10,000 award from Cox Conserves by voting for Chuck O’Neal here. One click one vote 10,000 bucks towards the cause.
O’Neal, an environmental activist and a real-estate investor in Longwood, filed a lawsuit against the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to stop the state agency from allowing people to hunt bears. He was joined in his suit by Speak Up Wekiva, a nonprofit group based in Lake Mary.
“Filing this lawsuit is something that fulfills this commitment,” O’Neal said.
3) As a contingency plan, if all other means to stop the hunt fail, there are going to be a series of statewide protests and an immeasurable amount of negative publicity for FWC and the state officials who are responsible. You can find one in your area here:
4) And possibly the most important. PLEASE REGISTER TO VOTE and help insure that all your friends vote in EVERY election. You can join a great organization with a long history of education, voter registration and advocacy here:
On October 10th, 2015, the small Central Florida town of Umatilla, on the southern edge of the Ocala National Forest, is scheduled to hold its annual Black Bear Festival. The event, organized by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), has traditionally been aimed at educating young and old alike about the area’s wildlife, featuring presentations and guided eco-tours of the nearby forest. For a town that used to label itself “The Gateway to the Forest,” the event was a wholesome family activity and entirely fitting. This year’s event promises to be extra-special, for it will mark the two-week countdown to the resumption of bear hunting after a twenty-one-year hiatus, affording Florida’s families a wonderful new way to interact with their natural environment. It remains to be seen whether the organizers will set up bear-shaped targets for youngsters to aim at in Cadwell Park, or will hide the reality of the coming bloodbath behind their fraudulent and authoritarian claim of managerial responsibility Ok so to wrap this up grew our black bear population out of endangered to a large population. We now after many years have bear hunting. Hunters can kill the mothers and that means a dismal outcome for the cubs. This whole thing is orchestrated from the darkness who have found Florida a great place to destroy for their own greedy reasons.
Here is an article about Ted Nugent buying his permit to kill bears in Florida.
cyndi lenz 