Florida's rare and controversial black bear hunt kills 52

Fifty-two bears were killed during Florida's first black bear hunt in a decade, state wildlife officials said Tuesday. At least four dozen of the permits went to opponents of the hunt who never intended to use them, according to the Florida chapter of the Sierra Club, which encouraged critics to apply in the hopes of saving bears. The Florida black bear population is considered one of the state’s conservation success stories, having grown from just several hundred bears in the 1970s to an estimate over 4,000.