A STORY ABOUT THE BEAR HUNTING IN FLORIDA…
And the question that remains: will we stand by and watch it happen again?
In my 30 years living in Florida, one of the hardest, most painful animal tragedies I bore witness to and followed closely was the bear hunt of 2015. As a fact, I wasn’t able write this article without having to stop and cry, sometimes sob about it. By the way, those who know me or have read some of my posts are aware of the fact that I often cry for animals. Yes, I know there’s plenty out there to cry for, and a lot of it involving people; I cry for them, too. But that doesn’t mean this tragedy is not worth crying about. And yes, I’m sure there have been plenty of such stories involving bears and other living beings in the history of Florida. But this one happened to come to my attention through the broader reach of social media, and at a time in my life when I was ready to pay attention.
Basically, in 2015 the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, a group composed of ranchers, farmers, hunters and other people representing the interests of a political minority in Florida, and who were appointed and backed by Gov. Rick Scott, made a one-sided decision to start allowing bear hunting that year, after a moratorium of over 20 years (which had been put in place because Florida black bears had almost became extinct). That decision was taken in complete disregard for the majority of the Floridians who were against the bear hunt; not to mention one of the Commission’s main purpose for existing, which is the preservation of the state’s wildlife. It became obvious to a whole lot of concerned Floridians (and people from other states and other countries) that:
After the 2-day hunt, there was a photo posted on Facebook for a only short while which, to me, became not only a tragic symbol of the thoughtless massacre, but also an iconic representation of the disconnection and lack of compassion that so many children in our society learn and demonstrate towards other living beings. It was the picture of a small boy, maybe 10 or 12 years old, looking all proud as he sat leaning against the body of a dead bear cub in the back seat of a vehicle. It’s one those images that becomes burned in your brain and you can never “unsee”…
As all the controversy about the bear hunt was going on, a lot of people, many of them led by organizations such as Floridians United to Save Our Bears, were putting up a brave fight and trying to make a difference. They rallied, showed up at the FWC meetings, filed a law suit to try to stop the hunt, and much more. When those efforts failed to stop the hunt, many bravely volunteered to monitor the hunting stations to verify if the rules were being followed and count the bears killed.
Meanwhile, I felt paralyzed by the sheer horror of what was happening, and I’m painfully conscious of the fact that I didn’t do enough to try to stop it or somehow make a difference. Sure, I signed petitions and spread the word through social media as much as possible; I contributed to fund-raising efforts; when the Florida United group asked for counselors that could help the volunteers who offered to monitor the hunt and were deeply haunted by what they had to witness, I sent a message offering my services as a hypnotherapist and life coach (if I had been contacted, however, I really don’t know of how much use I would have been, as I’m sure I’d be crying as much as the poor volunteers during the sessions). Other than that, as I mentioned before, I cried; which, at best, might show that I’m sensitive when it comes to animals’ plights, but doesn’t really do much to help them and change things.
But I continued crying and feeling depressed every time I was exposed to follow-up articles about the hunt, as more and more information came to the surface concerning the real number of bears killed (which went far above the allowed number, and included mothers and cubs); all the irregularities and blatant disrespect for the rules that took place; the complete lack of organization and control; the absurdity of official statements declaring the hunt to have been “successful” and confirming the intention to hold it every year; etc. Not to mention the additional petitions that were showing up against bear hunting in other states, where the situation was even worse than in Florida; for instance, the Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners was planning to allow a zero quota bear hunt, and all they had in that state were 445 bears!!! Really something to cry about.
It finally dawned on me that, as it often happens, I was crying for something bigger than the Florida bear bloodbath. Above all, I cried for the kind of world we live in, where so many living beings suffer from ill-treatment and are killed casually and mindlessly for our own purposes and interests; a world in which it’s considered ok to mercilessly kill animals for sport under the guise of population control; a world in which we’re training many of our children to be as mindless about other living being as too many of us have become. Change is so desperately needed… Can it truly happen?
And then it happened: I started hearing about a city here, a county there, etc, taking steps towards non-lethal solutions for the bear “nuisance” issue. Also, some cities and counties agreed to pass a bear hunt ban ordinance. Better yet, I read about children speaking up and creating campaigns against the hunt, which made me feel hopeful again about our future as human beings, and inspired me to write this blog post. In special, two elementary-school kids, Khendall of Jacksonville and Megan from the Orlando area, began collecting funds for a billboard campaign in the hopes to prevent another bear hunt in Florida. Megan also spoke against the 2015 bear hunt at an FWC Commission meeting, citing some of the facts I mentioned on this article and calling for a moratorium on bear hunting in Florida. I hope they listen. I hope we listen and start caring enough to take affirmative action. And I truly hope that we start learning how to co-exist with our fellow living beings in a way that’s beneficial for all involved... Before it’s too late for them… and for us.
Gisele Marasca-Vargas; 11/20/2015
NOTE: Since I wrote this post, due to strong public opposition the FWC decided to change their intention to have another bear hunt in 2016, and postponed it to 2017.
===================================================================
THE ATTEMPT TO BRING BACK BEAR HUNTING IN 2017:
A FWC meeting took place on April 19, 2017 to decide on the fate of the black bears.
The meeting place was:
Florida Public Safety Institute
75 Academy Dr, Havana, Florida 32333
According to Floridians United to Save Our Bears:
“At the April meeting of the FWC, the commission will either move ahead with a Florida Black Bear hunt in 2017 or decide to give the species a break from its annual slaughtering. You, who are reading this, will decide that fate. If we show up in big numbers, they live. If we don't, they die. That's what it all boils down to. Please make the journey.”
And the question that remains: will we stand by and watch it happen again?
In my 30 years living in Florida, one of the hardest, most painful animal tragedies I bore witness to and followed closely was the bear hunt of 2015. As a fact, I wasn’t able write this article without having to stop and cry, sometimes sob about it. By the way, those who know me or have read some of my posts are aware of the fact that I often cry for animals. Yes, I know there’s plenty out there to cry for, and a lot of it involving people; I cry for them, too. But that doesn’t mean this tragedy is not worth crying about. And yes, I’m sure there have been plenty of such stories involving bears and other living beings in the history of Florida. But this one happened to come to my attention through the broader reach of social media, and at a time in my life when I was ready to pay attention.
Basically, in 2015 the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, a group composed of ranchers, farmers, hunters and other people representing the interests of a political minority in Florida, and who were appointed and backed by Gov. Rick Scott, made a one-sided decision to start allowing bear hunting that year, after a moratorium of over 20 years (which had been put in place because Florida black bears had almost became extinct). That decision was taken in complete disregard for the majority of the Floridians who were against the bear hunt; not to mention one of the Commission’s main purpose for existing, which is the preservation of the state’s wildlife. It became obvious to a whole lot of concerned Floridians (and people from other states and other countries) that:
- Calling for a hunt was a huge overreaction to a few isolated incidents of human-bear conflict (none fatal, and brought about by improper trash containment and the fact that bears have lost more than 80% of their natural habit in Florida, along with their main sources of food). These issues could have been solved by the initiatives that immediately started being put in place in an attempt to avoid the hunt, such as proper public education, the use of bear proof trash cans, a moratorium on the harvesting of palm berries (an important source of food for the Florida bears which has been over-harvested, often illegally), and other non-lethal solutions.
- Those few human-bear incidents were used as an excuse for the powers that be to have their way and reopen bear hunting in Florida, appeasing the hunters and showing no real interest in conservation. According to a petition by an animal conservation group (circulated through change.org), “The FWC's claim that the Florida black bear population needed to be ‘managed’ was not supported by any scientific evidence that the bear population had exceeded the biological carrying capacity of its habitat. The hunt proceeded before an ongoing population study had been completed, failing to satisfy the minimal requirement for sound scientific management.” According to the same petition, “The Bear Management Plan's claim that Florida's bear population can sustain a mortality rate as high as 23% is derived from an antiquated study that was not based on an analysis of modern Florida conditions. Far from being sustainable, the hunt's target of 20% overall mortality was reckless and undermined the conservation goals the Plan professed to advance.” Both these facts were confirmed by several articles from reputable sources at the time.
- Even if bear population management were truly necessary, hunting is not an appropriate management tool, as the hunters play the role of “super predators” who kill healthy adults in their prime years (not to mention mothers and cubs, although they are not supposed to); in addition, they don’t target the few bears that come out of the woods looking for food in neighborhood trash cans, but the ones that live deep inside the woods and haven’t done anything to be considered “nuisance” bears.
- More bear hunting licenses were issued than there were bears in the state, which, of course, resulted in a bloodbath.
- The hunt was grossly mismanaged and its rules were widely unenforced, which resulted in overkilling, killing of females with cubs as well as cubs, killing of bears that were baited into private lands, illegal killing after the hunt had been closed, etc. According to an article from New Time Broward-Palm Beach, which was published in November, 2015, the “final” count was up to 304 bears at the time. Since then, I’ve seen articles that mentioned higher counts (close to 400 bears). How many more may have been killed? We’ll never know.
After the 2-day hunt, there was a photo posted on Facebook for a only short while which, to me, became not only a tragic symbol of the thoughtless massacre, but also an iconic representation of the disconnection and lack of compassion that so many children in our society learn and demonstrate towards other living beings. It was the picture of a small boy, maybe 10 or 12 years old, looking all proud as he sat leaning against the body of a dead bear cub in the back seat of a vehicle. It’s one those images that becomes burned in your brain and you can never “unsee”…
As all the controversy about the bear hunt was going on, a lot of people, many of them led by organizations such as Floridians United to Save Our Bears, were putting up a brave fight and trying to make a difference. They rallied, showed up at the FWC meetings, filed a law suit to try to stop the hunt, and much more. When those efforts failed to stop the hunt, many bravely volunteered to monitor the hunting stations to verify if the rules were being followed and count the bears killed.
Meanwhile, I felt paralyzed by the sheer horror of what was happening, and I’m painfully conscious of the fact that I didn’t do enough to try to stop it or somehow make a difference. Sure, I signed petitions and spread the word through social media as much as possible; I contributed to fund-raising efforts; when the Florida United group asked for counselors that could help the volunteers who offered to monitor the hunt and were deeply haunted by what they had to witness, I sent a message offering my services as a hypnotherapist and life coach (if I had been contacted, however, I really don’t know of how much use I would have been, as I’m sure I’d be crying as much as the poor volunteers during the sessions). Other than that, as I mentioned before, I cried; which, at best, might show that I’m sensitive when it comes to animals’ plights, but doesn’t really do much to help them and change things.
But I continued crying and feeling depressed every time I was exposed to follow-up articles about the hunt, as more and more information came to the surface concerning the real number of bears killed (which went far above the allowed number, and included mothers and cubs); all the irregularities and blatant disrespect for the rules that took place; the complete lack of organization and control; the absurdity of official statements declaring the hunt to have been “successful” and confirming the intention to hold it every year; etc. Not to mention the additional petitions that were showing up against bear hunting in other states, where the situation was even worse than in Florida; for instance, the Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners was planning to allow a zero quota bear hunt, and all they had in that state were 445 bears!!! Really something to cry about.
It finally dawned on me that, as it often happens, I was crying for something bigger than the Florida bear bloodbath. Above all, I cried for the kind of world we live in, where so many living beings suffer from ill-treatment and are killed casually and mindlessly for our own purposes and interests; a world in which it’s considered ok to mercilessly kill animals for sport under the guise of population control; a world in which we’re training many of our children to be as mindless about other living being as too many of us have become. Change is so desperately needed… Can it truly happen?
And then it happened: I started hearing about a city here, a county there, etc, taking steps towards non-lethal solutions for the bear “nuisance” issue. Also, some cities and counties agreed to pass a bear hunt ban ordinance. Better yet, I read about children speaking up and creating campaigns against the hunt, which made me feel hopeful again about our future as human beings, and inspired me to write this blog post. In special, two elementary-school kids, Khendall of Jacksonville and Megan from the Orlando area, began collecting funds for a billboard campaign in the hopes to prevent another bear hunt in Florida. Megan also spoke against the 2015 bear hunt at an FWC Commission meeting, citing some of the facts I mentioned on this article and calling for a moratorium on bear hunting in Florida. I hope they listen. I hope we listen and start caring enough to take affirmative action. And I truly hope that we start learning how to co-exist with our fellow living beings in a way that’s beneficial for all involved... Before it’s too late for them… and for us.
Gisele Marasca-Vargas; 11/20/2015
NOTE: Since I wrote this post, due to strong public opposition the FWC decided to change their intention to have another bear hunt in 2016, and postponed it to 2017.
===================================================================
THE ATTEMPT TO BRING BACK BEAR HUNTING IN 2017:
A FWC meeting took place on April 19, 2017 to decide on the fate of the black bears.
The meeting place was:
Florida Public Safety Institute
75 Academy Dr, Havana, Florida 32333
According to Floridians United to Save Our Bears:
“At the April meeting of the FWC, the commission will either move ahead with a Florida Black Bear hunt in 2017 or decide to give the species a break from its annual slaughtering. You, who are reading this, will decide that fate. If we show up in big numbers, they live. If we don't, they die. That's what it all boils down to. Please make the journey.”
===================================================================
UPDATE (11/07/2017):
Since I wrote the previous post update, due to strong public opposition the FWC decided not to hold bear hunts in 2017 or 2018 (please see article below). However, their intention is to turn public opinion around through "education" about the need for bear hunting as population control; so the fight continues...
No Florida Bear Hunt This Year or 2018, FWC Decides
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-fwc-votes-no-florida-bear-hunt-2017-story.html
In other words, numbers DO COUNT!!! Bear hunting will be banned only if there’s overwhelming public support against it.
===================================================================
HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP WHEN THE FWC MEETS AGAIN:
1) SHARE THE COSTS! A request from Floridians United to Save Our Bears:
“If you can't make the meeting but would like to help, please consider sharing the costs of those who will be making the drive. One generous benefactor, Kevin, has donated $300 to buy gas and put eight people up in two rooms the night before the meeting. That's 24 minutes of public testimony.”
2) Please ask the FWC Commissioners to ban bear hunting by clicking on the link below and using the contact form on that page:
http://myfwc.com/about/commission/commissioners/
UPDATE (11/07/2017):
Since I wrote the previous post update, due to strong public opposition the FWC decided not to hold bear hunts in 2017 or 2018 (please see article below). However, their intention is to turn public opinion around through "education" about the need for bear hunting as population control; so the fight continues...
No Florida Bear Hunt This Year or 2018, FWC Decides
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-fwc-votes-no-florida-bear-hunt-2017-story.html
In other words, numbers DO COUNT!!! Bear hunting will be banned only if there’s overwhelming public support against it.
===================================================================
HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP WHEN THE FWC MEETS AGAIN:
1) SHARE THE COSTS! A request from Floridians United to Save Our Bears:
“If you can't make the meeting but would like to help, please consider sharing the costs of those who will be making the drive. One generous benefactor, Kevin, has donated $300 to buy gas and put eight people up in two rooms the night before the meeting. That's 24 minutes of public testimony.”
2) Please ask the FWC Commissioners to ban bear hunting by clicking on the link below and using the contact form on that page:
http://myfwc.com/about/commission/commissioners/