(Reuters) - Florida's first bear hunt in two decades, which sparked protests by animal rights activists, was called off after just two days after nearly 300 bears were killed, wildlife officials said on Sunday.

The hunt, which was slated to last up to one week and allow as many as 320 black bears to be killed, was ended after 295 of the animals were "harvested," the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said in a statement.

The hunt aimed to stabilize a population of bears that had rebounded to more than 3,000 from several hundred in the 1970s, according to the commission.

The agency said hunting in the central and east panhandle portions of the state were closed on Saturday, after just one day of hunting, as hunters were more proficient than anticipated.

"Regulated hunting has a long, successful history of contributing to wildlife conservation in North America. Of the 41 states with resident bear populations, 33 of them conduct hunts and all have stable to increasing bear populations," the commission's statement said.

Hunt opponents held statewide protests on Friday, aiming to build on the international outrage generated this summer by the killing of Cecil, a rare black-maned lion, by an American dentist who was on an African hunting trip.

A few dozen held a vigil on Sunday for the bears at a wildlife management area at Rock Springs Run in Sorrento, according to the Orlando Sentinel newspaper.

"The real raw fact of the matter of losing these bears is devastating to many of us in the community," Emily Ruff, of the Florida School of Holistic Living, told the newspaper.

State wildlife officers have received increasing complaints about bears in neighborhoods close to woodlands where the animals have long roamed, as suburban development has further encroached on to their habitat.

Open garbage cans and unattended backyard grills attract bears looking for an easy meal. Hunt opponents say programs to eliminate such food sources could reduce conflicts between bears and humans more effectively than hunting.

At least four Floridians have been injured in bear attacks in the past two years, mostly in the suburbs north of Orlando.

The hunt comes at a time when several western states are considering regulations that would make it easier to hunt cougars, though the scope of the expansion varies widely, according to the Humane Society.

(Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Additional reporting by Letitia Stein in Tampa, Florida and Barbara Liston in Orlando, Florida; Editing by Nick Macfie)

A few thoughts about this:

 

1) Seems if 295 were taken, and the quota was 320, this was effective.

 

2) Hunt opponents trying to build off Cecil the Lion is a ridiculous argument

 

3) Hunt opponents say reducing food sources (garbage cans and grills)is more effective than hunting. I say that training humans to bear proof their residence is likely a lot less effective than a quota hunt.

 

4) How many of the opponents have ever had an encounter with a bear and their first thought was to remove the food source ?

 

Quota hunts are a very effective method of reducing populations of wild game, obvoiusly very effective in Florida. I would submit that if 300 bears were taken in 2 days, then the population of available bears was pretty strong.

 

Thoughts ?

A few thoughts about this:

 

1) Seems if 295 were taken, and the quota was 320, this was effective.

 

2) Hunt opponents trying to build off Cecil the Lion is a ridiculous argument

 

3) Hunt opponents say reducing food sources (garbage cans and grills)is more effective than hunting. I say that training humans to bear proof their residence is likely a lot less effective than a quota hunt.

 

4) How many of the opponents have ever had an encounter with a bear and their first thought was to remove the food source ?

 

Quota hunts are a very effective method of reducing populations of wild game, obvoiusly very effective in Florida. I would submit that if 300 bears were taken in 2 days, then the population of available bears was pretty strong.

 

 

Thoughts ?

 

That was my very first thought. Almost 300 the first two days? They might want to do a recount of the bear population cause sounds like it might be more than 3000. That's a lot of bear for that time frame.

Were these bears named or were they John Doe 1 through 295?

Of course if we captured kill data like: Location. And we found that most successful hunters for location put: Backyard, Patio, Dumpster or Park Grill, then I guess we know those opposed to the hunt were right all along....

Quota hunts are a very effective method of reducing populations of wild game, obvoiusly very effective in Florida. I would submit that if 300 bears were taken in 2 days, then the population of available bears was pretty strong.

 

That was my very first thought. Almost 300 the first two days? They might want to do a recount of the bear population cause sounds like it might be more than 3000. That's a lot of bear for that time frame.

 

Agree. If they got that many so quick, I think the hunt was not only effective, but necessary.

Sounds like you can't go outside your home in Florida. That's a lot of bears and Florida isn't a large state.

Florida School of Holistic Living. Give me a freakin break.

I'm fine with it as long as they use them for food.

 

I have my doubts though...

Game management. I pay for the sportsman license every year. The department of game and fish does an outstanding job regulating the various species.

People just don't get it. If populations are not controlled the balance gets out of whack. Sorry but maybe we did cause the imbalance with building homes, offices, highways, etc. but it is what it is and the wildlife department does a fine job of controlling populations. Us old folks remember one buck only during deer season and the fact we never had a turkey season years ago.

I quadruple like this post.^^^

Sounds like a sale on bear skin rugs in FL this year.

Game management. I pay for the sportsman license every year. The department of game and fish does an outstanding job regulating the various species.

People just don't get it. If populations are not controlled the balance gets out of whack. Sorry but maybe we did cause the imbalance with building homes, offices, highways, etc. but it is what it is and the wildlife department does a fine job of controlling populations. Us old folks remember one buck only during deer season and the fact we never had a turkey season years ago.

 

So I'm old ? Yet another blow to my youthful self esteem....

Game management. I pay for the sportsman license every year. The department of game and fish does an outstanding job regulating the various species.

People just don't get it. If populations are not controlled the balance gets out of whack. Sorry but maybe we did cause the imbalance with building homes, offices, highways, etc. but it is what it is and the wildlife department does a fine job of controlling populations. Us old folks remember one buck only during deer season and the fact we never had a turkey season years ago.

Us real old folks remember when there were no deer in many counties. I remember well when they were reintroduced into Pendleton County at Kincaid Lake.

Game management. I pay for the sportsman license every year. The department of game and fish does an outstanding job regulating the various species.

People just don't get it. If populations are not controlled the balance gets out of whack. Sorry but maybe we did cause the imbalance with building homes, offices, highways, etc. but it is what it is and the wildlife department does a fine job of controlling populations. Us old folks remember one buck only during deer season and the fact we never had a turkey season years ago.

Growing up in Kentucky and spending a LOT of my youth weekends out in the woods I rarely saw deer, never saw turkey and thought bears were only in the Smokies.

 

Kentucky has done a great job managing and in some cases reintroducing native animals back into the state. I can now see deer and turkey almost every day if I wanted to, without getting more than a few miles from my house in town. The reintroduction of an Elk herd has been by all accounts wildly successful. The fact that bear are throughout this part of the state now is another win as far as I'm concerned. If hunting and license fees are partly responsible for this growth in wildlife in Kentucky I don't see how anyone could be against it.