FWC speaks out on Cantonment black bear

CANTONMENT, Fla. (WALA) - The decision to put down the young black bear dumpster diving and climbing trees in a Cantonment apartment complex because it grew too accustomed to people didn’t sit well with many.

But when the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission discovered that residents at Wild Oak Farm Apartments were feeding him out of their hands, the FWC says theirs were tied.

FWC spokesman Stan Kirkland sat down with FOX10 News Thursday, saying the state of Florida puts down about 15 bears a year.

“There’s something in all of us that says, ‘hey, we’d like to put this bear somewhere where it’ll live out its life and we’ll never see it again.’ That’s not realistic," Kirkland said.  “As bad as it is, the times we have to do this, are really few and far between.”

Kirkland says the decision to euthanize the bear came from the regional office in Panama City at the recommendation of the same workers who first tried to trap it.

FOX10 News previously spoke to residents at Wild Oak, who said they didn't consider the bear a threat, calling him "friendly."  We asked why an animal acting this way around people would be killed.

“You have to understand this is a wild animal," Kirkland said.  "Can you imagine the conversation [we] would be having if a child had walked out there and that bear had bitten a child? The last person killed in Tennessee by a black bear was a child killed by a bear that was smaller than this bear.”

Kirkland says there has never been a predatory attack by a black bear in the state of Florida. That’s an attack where the bear actually stalks its prey.

However, this might surprise you; Kirkland says nationally the black bear is more dangerous than a grizzly, with more attacks and more deaths since 1900.

FWC officials believe the bear would have been a nuisance anywhere in Florida or surrounding states.

A zoo was out of the question, because  Kirkland says they usually won’t take wild black bears, who can be a threat to themselves or trainers in captivity.