ORLANDO, Fla. (WESH) – Florida’s bear hunt is now underway.

Over the next three weeks, and for the first time since 2015, hunters are expected to take several dozen black bears statewide.

Bear advocacy groups have protested, even taking the state to court to try to put a halt to the hunt, all to no avail.

Seminole County-based Bear Warriors United is offering to pay hunters who have taken permits $2,000 to not kill a bear.

The Sierra Club of Florida said dozens of its own members, as well as coalition allies, have secured 52 of the available 172 permits.

Sierra Club Florida Director Susannah Randolph said they are hopeful the FWC will enforce the law when it comes to monitoring how many bears are taken.

“The people who approved the hunt were political appointees, that’s why we we

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