Seminole County sees drop in nuisance bear calls as Orange, Lake increase, FWC says

Nearly a decade ago, Seminole County was the state’s hotbed for reports of bears coming face-to-face with residents, as wildlife officers would receive complaints almost daily of the large beasts tipping over trash cans, raiding garage refrigerators or simply plopping themselves in homeowners’ yards.

The west side of the county was also where three women were mauled by bears in 2013 and 2014.

Today, the number of bear-related calls to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation, or FWC, has plunged by more than 30% in Seminole since 2018, according to the state agency.

Seminole — consistently ranked as the top county in Florida for human-bear interactions as recent as five years ago — is now ranked seventh, with 344 calls last year, compared to 436 in 2018.

“That is absolutely astounding,” said Mike Orlando, bear program coordinator for the FWC, about the drop. “Seminole County has been doing a fantastic job. … Most of our calls are now general interactions, such as, ‘I saw a bear walking down the road.’ ‘There was a bear up a tree eating acorns,’ or something along those lines.”

Within the agency’s 12-county northeast region — which includes Lake, Seminole, Orange, Volusia and Brevard counties — officials reported a plunge of more than 31% over the past decade in bear-related calls — including reports of the animals causing property damage, finding free meals inside garbage cans, roaming into a structure or making a general nuisance of themselves.

In Orange, however, calls last year more than doubled to 502 compared to 203 in 2018, according to FWC data provided for Florida’s top 10 counties in bear-related complaints. In Lake, reports increased by more than 31% to 661 last year compared to 504 in 2018.

Black bear spotted in tree at Lake Eola Park in downtown Orlando

State wildlife officials pointed out that the decrease in calls in Seminole compared to Orange and Lake is likely because residents — particularly those living in older, established neighborhoods west of Interstate 4 near large state wilderness reserves — have become more accustomed to seeing bears.

Orlando and county officials also credited Seminole’s 2016 ordinance for the drop in calls in the county that mandates residents and businesses west of Interstate 4  — an area designated as the county’s Urban Bear Management District because of the high number of bear sightings — secure their trash cans, bring in their pet-food bowls, clean greasy barbecue grills and not hang bird feeders.

Seminole also became the first local government in Florida to impose stiff fines — up to $100 a day — on people who violate the ordinance or intentionally leave food out to lure bears into their neighborhoods.

But officials also noted that it’s likely west Seminole residents have become so accustomed to seeing the large hairy creatures roaming through their communities — many wandering in from the nearby Wekiwa Springs State Park and other wildlife areas — that they no longer call FWC.

That’s why the state agency needs to continue educating residents about not feeding bears from outdoor trash cans or other food sources.

“Being less welcoming is in a bear’s best interest, and that education needs to happen,” Seminole Commissioner Andria Herr said. “We need an uptick in education before there’s another incident. … We can’t have them thinking they can live in the patios [of empty homes].”

Herr — who lives in the Heathrow community, just east of the large Rock Springs Wildlife Management Area and Wekiwa — said it’s not uncommon for Florida black bears to stroll around her neighborhood. She noted one of the beasts recently peeped through one of her home’s windows, “scaring the bejeebers” out of people inside.

“They have become very comfortable,” she said. “They are not fearful.”

Farther south, a Florida black bear was captured last month at the Magic Kingdom theme park at Walt Disney World by state wildlife officers after the animal was spotted in a tree near the Frontierland attraction.

Orlando agreed bears are becoming more comfortable around humans. He said his agency’s officers will often try to scare away a nuisance bear by firing bean bags, shooting it with paintball guns or mildly shocking the animal with Tasers.

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“If a bear is getting into an outside refrigerator or something like that, we’ve been using electric unwelcome mats,” Orlando said. “It shocks their paws and they run away. They just don’t come back. … We do have to do something strong enough that they remember that people are not nice.”

Orlando, however, noted that if a bear “is a public safety threat” such as breaking into a home or attacking a person, then wildlife officers will have to “remove that bear from the population” by killing it.

Bear populations have increased across the state, according to wildlife officials. In the Apalachicola area in Florida’s Panhandle, for example, there has been an estimated 12% growth in the bear population over the past decade. In the FWC region covering the Central Florida area, officials have reported a roughly 2% jump in the animals’ population.

Geneva resident Katrina Shadix, executive director of the nonprofit Bear Warriors United, said many residents are either acquiring bear-resistant trash cans or retrofitting their existing cans with bear-proof straps.

“We’re doing good in Seminole County,” she said. “We have a great handle on our bear situation. We have more people who want us to peacefully coexist with bears, rather than having them killed or be relocated. … But we would love, love for these bears to stay in the woods and eat their natural food sources. And the way we do that is by securing trash.”

mcomas@orlandosentinel.com