Bears

A fatal black bear attack that claimed the lives of an 89-year-old rural Collier County man and his dog this week has been confirmed by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission.The confirmation of the attack that took place early Monday in the community of Jerome, was issued Friday. It was the first such confirmed attack in the state's history.

Three black bears have been killed in an area of Collier County that saw a man and a dog fatally attacked on Monday.The early Monday attack resulted in the death of 89-year-old Robert Markel in the rural community of Jerome. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission is continuing to investigate the attack which occurred in the area of State Road 29 and U.S. 41, just south of Big Cypress Wildlife Management Area.

The Florida Wildlife Commission is investigating a bear attack that left a Collier County man and a dog dead Monday morning.

Could a Black Bear Hunt return to The Sunshine State? Florida Fish and Wildlife are preparing to make their decision if the conservation effort takes place later this year.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will hold a series of virtual public meetings to collect feedback directly from Florida residents on proposals for highly regulated black bear hunting in Florida.

Florida could move toward its first sanctioned bear hunt in nearly a decade.The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission on Wednesday directed officials to bring forward proposals for a possible bear hunt. The proposals are expected to be completed by a May commission meeting, giving staff members time to compile data from ongoing studies about bear populations and gather more public input.

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed a controversial measure that will bolster self-defense arguments for people who kill bears on their property, while vetoing a bill that would have prevented motorists from cruising in the left lanes of highways.

A natural part of living in Florida is sometimes interacting with wild animals — including Florida black bears. Wildlife officers trapped and tranquilized a black bear on Monday near downtown Fort Myers. Bears are pretty wily and mostly move around at night so most people have probably never even seen one, or even know that we have black bears in this part of Florida, let alone wandering through our neighborhoods. We talk with a bear expert with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission about bears in Florida, how they behave, and what we can do to minimize neighborhood interactions with them.

People would be allowed to kill bears on their property without permits if they feel threatened or think it is necessary for protection, under a bill that moved forward Tuesday in the Florida House.

It’s been nearly eight years since the last state-sanctioned bear hunt, and Franklin County Sheriff A.J. Smith said Florida needs to find solutions as encounters between the animals and humans are increasing.“We need to look at some different ways of doing things,” Smith told The News Service of Florida on Monday.During the past few weeks, a woman in the rural Gulf Coast county southwest of Tallahassee had to lock herself inside a bedroom as a bear broke into her home. In a separate incident, a woman was trapped in a car by a large black bear.