Man Attacked By Bear As Hunting Season Opens
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EAST POINT, Fla. (CBSMiami) -- On the first day of the controversial bear hunting season, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has reported that a man was attacked by a bear, near Tallahassee.
The attack, however, was not related to the bear hunt.
According to FWC Executive Director Nick Wiley, a man got too close to a bear and cubs digging through a dumpster, when he was attacked.
The man was injured but his wounds were not life-threatening.
The incident comes hours after the first reported legal kill was recorded in Florida's first bear hunt in more than two decades.
The black bear was gunned in Lake County just before 8 a.m., as reported by the Sun-Sentinel.
Photos posted on twitter show the one-week season's first kill.
BREAKING: First bear brought to weigh station in Rock Springs Run. 298 lbs. @news6wkmg pic.twitter.com/vix4jnyroz
— Justin Warmoth (@JustinWarmoth) October 24, 2015
The hunting season is scheduled to last one week or sooner if the 320 "harvest" limit is reached.
The total number of permits purchased by Friday's deadline was 3,778, allowing hunters to legally kill one bear each.
The hunt has sparked a number of protests against the FWC. However, the commission approved the hunt in an effort to quell the thousands of logged bear complaints every year it receives.
Law enforcement have been positioned at each of the 33 stations in the four designated hunting zones across the state.