Florida House moves to stiffen penalties on killing bears
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - The Florida House has moved to stiffen penalties on killing black bears. It's already illegal to kill black bears in the state, but wildlife advocates say the current law had no teeth.
As it stands, the penalties for hunting turkeys and deer out of season is more severe than killing a bear. At one time, the number of black bears in Florida had dropped into the low hundreds, prompting the listing of the animal as a threatened species.