So we found the biggest bear ever in Florida...and then we killed it.

[Baitball Blogger]

Weighing in at 740 pounds, biggest ever Florida black bear killed

Wildlife officers trapped and killed the biggest Florida black bear on record Sunday in a Longwood neighborhood..


The mammoth animal, which had been casually roaming Seminole County neighborhoods, weighed 740 pounds, according to the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission. That's more than 100 pounds heavier than the previous record-holder, a 620-pound black bear caught in Paisley in 2013.

The Longwood bear did not balloon to 740 pounds by sticking to its staple diet of nuts and berries. Most likely, it feasted on a cornucopia of curbside garbage, too, said Thomas Eason, a bear biologist and director of FWC's Division of Habitat & Species Conservation.

Concerned residents complained about the beast wandering through their yards and streets


http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-biggest-florida-bear-killed-20150121-story.html

[rocktivity]

1. "The 620-pound black bear caught in Paisley in 2013

...had made a nuisance of itself in the Lake County community...tearing into livestock pens and rummaging through garbage cans. It was later released in the Ocala National Forest..."

Hmm, Longwood is only forty miles south of Paisley, which in turn is on the southern border of the Ocala National Forest. If it's the same bear, it's his fault for not be able to take a hint.


rocktivity

[alarimer]

2. Sounds like it was habituated to humans.

Those are always dangerous, even apart from the unusual size. They likely had no other choice.

[NCTraveler]

3. The FWC is overall a great organization in Florida.

One of the few places we can really hang our hats. That includes protection of the Black Bear. I have often hiked Wekawa Springs State Park looking for Black Bears. I spent two days hiking and looking for them one weekend only to see one hanging out in a tree over the road as I was exiting the park for my trip home. In the early eighties there were only a thousand or so wild Black Bears. Today there are over three thousand. Those numbers are Florida only. If you are in Florida try to stop in and hike at this State Park. It has an abundance of wildlife. Owl "hunting" is also one of my favorites in that park.