The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) announced on Sunday that it is ending the bear hunt in Florida, the state's first in more than 20 years, after a total of 295 black bears were killed over the weekend.
The hunt, which opened, a half-hour before sunrise on Saturday, ended after just two days as hunters quickly came close to the statewide limit of 320 bears, according to a FWC press release. "The 2015 bear hunt is officially over," the news release read.
The hunting had already been shut down in the designated central and east Panhandle regions of Florida after the first day, on Saturday. FWC said the additional north and south units were also closed for hunting after the second day, ending bear hunting in all four "bear management units," where it was permitted, according to Fox News.
The Florida bear hunt was organized in order to stabilize the bear population, which has grown from several hundred to more than 3,000 in about 40 years.
In spite of the rapid growth in bear population, more hunters than bears roamed Florida's dense forests this weekend with as many as 3,778 people buying permits. The proceeds from the $100 license will go towards waste management programs in Fla., intended to reduce human-bear conflict, according to the FWC, Time reported.
The cull, deemed by few as a brutal trophy hunt, drew some criticism, but the director of FWC Habitat and Species Conservation division, Dr. Thomas Eason said, "From a biological sustainable population perspective, none of these numbers are worrying to us. We have a large resilient growing bear populations," according to ABC7.
Out of the 41 states in the U.S. with bear populations, 33 conduct hunts. In Florida, officials set up 33 stations where hunters were required to register each kill within 12 hours.
Hunters were also prohibited from using dogs or bait to lure the mammals, and could only hunt bears that weighed more than 100 pounds, among other restrictions. The only weapons allowed for the hunt were shotguns, bows, pistols, revolvers and crossbows.
