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black bear

College-bound bear? Authorities capture bear near FSU campus

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Wildlife officials have tranquilized a black bear that wandered close to the campus of Florida State University. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said in a release that authorities removed the bear Wednesday morning. It will be relocated to a different area. The release stated that there was “no reason to believe” that there are any other bears nearby. Wildlife officials found the bear about three blocks west of FSU and the school’s football stadium. The bear was also…

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Joe Henderson: When political opportunity knocks, Lisa Montelione gets busy

in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by

You can never take a moment off in politics, so when Lisa Montelione saw an opportunity Tuesday morning, she got busy. A frisky black bear had climbed up a tree about two blocks from her home in north Tampa. While authorities worked to safely remove the animal, Montelione was thinking ahead. “I told them they better not harm a hair on that bear’s head. That’s a constituent,” she said with a laugh. “When they get him out of that tree,…

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Kate MacFall: Florida black bear hunt — bad idea last year; bad idea this year

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On June 22, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will discuss whether to open another Florida black bear hunt. It was a bad idea last year, and it’s a bad idea this year, especially now that a group of knowledgeable Florida scientists has sent a detailed letter to the state’s wildlife agency. They make the serious point that the state doesn’t have the information it needs to responsibly hold a black bear hunt without potentially harming the populations. Florida’s…

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Florida’s bear population abundant, robust and growing, officials say

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There now are an estimated 4,350 bears in Florida with dramatic increases in some areas of the state, wildlife officials said Thursday. That number, included in a new state bear census, led the officials to describe the population as abundant, robust and growing. That Florida black bear census reflects the state’s population before last fall’s controversial first bear hunt in a generation. The bear population estimates will change with numbers from the hunt, said Thomas Eason, habitat and species conservation director for…

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Bear attacks man on eve of controversial hunt

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Wildlife officials are investigating after a bear attacked a man outside Eastpoint motel. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation officials say Charles Griffin was walking near the Sportsman’s Lodge Motel and Marina on Friday night when he encountered a bear. He was released after being treated for nonlife-threatening injuries. Wildlife officials are conducting trapping efforts. The attack comes on the eve of the state’s first bear hunt in more than 20 years. Officials have sold more than 3,200 permits for Saturday’s…

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Amid protests, bear hunting season opens in Florida

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Hunters for the first time in more than 20 years will trudge through Florida woods on Saturday to legally kill black bears, a contentious wildlife management action that has activists taking to the streets in protest. Florida wildlife officials have sold more than 3,200 permits to hunters from all over, including 1970s rocker Ted Nugent and Liesa Priddy, a rancher and Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission member who voted to approve the new hunts. The hunt was approved by the…

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Today on Context Florida: The Civil War, Florida’s black bears and 3D printing

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Today on Context Florida: Wars never end, says Marc Yacht. The bullets may stop but the hatreds continue. Both sides remember. The Civil War never ended. The battles are over, the bullets stopped flying but be assured, the hatreds and conflicts continue. Revision of history, the continued growth of intolerance, the white supremacy mantra and hate pose serious threats to our nation’s future. At the annual black bear festival near Central Florida’s Ocala National Forest, Kate MacFall writes that there’s a…

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