Councilmembers from Kansas City's Third District give their thoughts on the proposed city budget and a furbearer biologist explains why Missouri's black bear population has been increasing.
Outdoors: Conservation Commission approves MDC bear-hunting framework (12/16/20) areawidenews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from areawidenews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Flickr The Missouri Department of Conservation estimates that there are now about 540 to 840 black bears in Missouri.
Black bears once thrived in Missouri, but habitat changes and logging by European settlers in the late 1800s drastically decreased their population. As Laura Conlee of the Missouri Department of Conservation puts it: “The numbers just kept dwindling. And we got to a point here in the state where we really thought that the bear population was extirpated, so they were driven to local extinction.”
Now, black bears are making a tremendous comeback in the Show-Me State. The animal’s resurgence, primarily due to the efforts of Missouri’s neighbors to the south, even has state regulators planning a short black bear hunting season.
Missouri Conservation Commission approves Missouri Department of Conservation bear hunting framework
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The Missouri Conservation Commission recently gave final approval to the Missouri Department of Conservation for the state’s first black bear hunting season framework. The Commission finalized the hunting season framework and related regulations at its December 11 open meeting in Jefferson City. The approved framework limits any future bear hunting to areas of southern Missouri and restricts bear hunting to Missouri residents only.
The next step to Missouri’s first bear season will be MDC presenting recommendations to the Commission in the spring of 2021 for a potential initial permit quota and harvest quota. If quotas are set, Missouri residents will be able to apply during May 2021 for an October 2021 fall hunt.
This is good news for bear hunters.
Next year could mark the first time that a bear hunt will be held in Missouri since the state’s conservation department was founded almost 90 years ago. This decision comes after it was determined that the state’s black bear population has been growing by 9% a year. The Missouri Department of Conservation has received final approval from the Missouri Conservation Commission to begin planning a bear hunt for the season beginning in October 2021. (iStock)
According to a press release from the Missouri Department of Conservation, the state’s bear population is expected to double in less than 10 years. The department has received final approval from the Missouri Conservation Commission to begin planning a bear hunt for the season beginning in October 2021.