The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) announced on Wednesday that it has decided not to conduct a state-sanctioned bear hunt this year.

During a meeting held in the Panhandle town of Eastpoint, state wildlife commissioners voted 4-3 in favor of postponing another hunt at least until next year.

Brian Yablonski, chairman of the FWC, explained that he is leaning toward having a pause in bear hunting activities in the state, though it doesn't necessarily mean that the practice will be removed entirely.

Opponents of the bear hunt argue that the practice is not needed, and despite the growing number of wild bears in Florida, the animals are still considered to be endangered.

They believe that limiting bear encounters with humans can be done by educating the public about the animals and introducing better ways of waste disposal in order to discourage bears from foraging in people's garbage.

"The problem in Florida is not an excess of bears but an excess of trash," Florida Humane Society director Kate MacFall said.

Biologists in the state had submitted a recommendation in which the bear hunt for this year would involve reducing the number of hunting license issued to hunters, increasing reporting requirements and limiting the area where people can hunt bears in. However, this plan was ultimately rejected through a 4-3 vote by the FWC.

The proposal to conduct another bear hunt reignited a long-standing debate between animal rights groups and those who are in favor of hunting down the animals. Animal and environment conservationists have already held protests throughout Florida in opposition of the move.

Growing Bear Population In Florida

According to state estimates, Florida currently has about 4,350 individual bears living within its borders, which is a 60 percent jump from numbers recorded in 2002. In Central Florida alone, there are already 1,230 wild bears, a 19 percent increase from 2002 estimates.

Human encounters with bears have also been increasing in recent years. In 2015, as many as 243 wild bears have been killed by vehicular traffic in different parts of Florida. This is a seven-fold increase from figures taken in 1990.

Last year, The FWC has received 6,094 nuisance calls related to bear activity, which is a noticeable increase from the 4,092 the agency had in 2011. Some of the calls involved bears causing harm to people.

Sherri Hutchins, a vocal supporter of the state-sanctioned bear hunt, said her daughter almost died after having been attacked by a wild bear near Eastpoint a couple of years ago.

She said that the bears have become a nuisance to local communities, tearing up properties, killing animals and attacking residents.

Those who oppose the bear hunt, however, insisted that the bears aren't a nuisance, and that more studies on local bear populations are needed to properly assess the situation.

Susan Conyac, a resident of DeBary, Florida, said the bears in their community do not bother them because residents aren't allowed to leave their garbage out unless it's time for pick-up during mornings.

State animal experts said the state-sanctioned bear hunt is just one of the ways the government is using to manage local bear populations and reducing the animals' interactions with people.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is offering grants to local communities to help them obtain garbage cans that are more bear-resistant.

The agency is also making efforts to ban the harvesting of palmetto berries, which is a favorite treat of wild bears, on state-owned lands as well as warn residents to secure proper trash cans in order to prevent the animals from digging through their garbage.

Resumption Of Bear Hunting

In 1974, the state government of Florida added black bears to its list of protected species. This move was followed by the placement of a ban on all bear hunts two decades later.

The FWC removed the bears from protected species list in 2011, but the prohibition on bear hunts remained in effect until 2015.

Last year, the agency issued 3,778 bear hunting permits and even held a weeklong hunt. The hunt was stopped two days into the event after participants killed as many as 304 bears, which is already near enough to the FWC's set limit of 321 individual bears.

Photo: D. Griebeling | Flickr