Black bear

Multiple sightings of a bear on the main part of the FGCU campus in recent days has prompted the placement of a trap on campus.The University Police Department urged people stay clear of the trap. UPD asked people not approach the trap, but report — from afar — if anything is seen inside.

The first black bear hunt in Florida in a decade takes place in December under a rule adopted Wednesday by state wildlife officials. This is despite strong opposition to the eventual use of dogs and hunting the animals in baited locations. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted unanimously in favor of the plan during a meeting that drew 168 people. The public hearing took place in the Panhandle town of Havana. Opponents called the hunt cruel, unnecessary and an excuse for hunters to bag a trophy animal. They say the real issue is the encroaching human population in bear habitat as Florida continues to grow.

Supporters of a regulated hunt say it's a scientifically sound method for controlling a growing bear population; animal rights folks often disagree on ethical grounds

FWC personnel trapped and relocated a black bear from the Florida Gulf Coast University campus on Monday.The trapping follows an alert and sightings of bears around campus in the past week.FGCU police report the animal has been relocated from campus to more suitable habitat.

A week after an FGCU alert cautioned that bears were seen in the North Village student housing area of the university, a student at the South Village captured a wandering Yogi on video.The morning of June 24 the university issued a warning — "Eagle Alert: Bears seen near North Lake Village area, searching for trash. Please exercise caution. Use trash compactor-no trash bags in breezeways or open dumpsters."

Amid support from hunters and warnings of a “slaughter” from animal-rights advocates, state wildlife officials Wednesday moved forward with Florida’s first black bear hunt in a decade.Before a crowd that spread into at least four extra rooms at the College of Central Florida in Ocala, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted 4-1 for staff members to return with rules for a December hunt that would be held in four parts of the state and could lead to as many as 187 bears being killed.Hunters could receive permits through a lottery system.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted 4-1 at a meeting in favor of a bear hunt in December and annually into the future, allowing the use of up to six dogs to corner the bears.

Florida is one step closer to having a bear hunt during the 2025-2026 hunting season, despite protests and opposition to the hunt.At this week’s Commission meeting in Ocala on Wednesday, Commissioners of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) voted to approve proposed amendments to bear hunting rules for advertising in the Florida Administrative Register. The rule proposals are expected to be brought back before the commission at its August 2025 meeting for a final hearing and, if the final rules are approved, most changes would take effect during the 2025-26 hunting season.

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.