Uncategorized
Talking Animals: Founder of Bear Warriors United discusses the proposed bear hunt and how Floridians can offer their comments on it – WMNF 88.5 FM
May
Katrina Shadix–founder and executive director of Bear Warriors United (BWU), whose stated mission is to preserve and protect bears, and all of Florida’s natural resources and wildlife—recalls, as a second-generation Floridian, the formative joys of growing up in rural Seminole County.
Shadix explains how that experience forged a profound connection with Florida wildlife—very much including Florida Black Bears—that propels her advocacy while remaining a resident of Seminole County, noting she’s downhearted by the rampant development in that area.
She discusses the experiences that served as catalysts for inspiring her to protect Florida Black Bears (which, she later notes, is a subspecies of the Black Bear): Hearing now-former Seminole County Commissioner John Horan declare at a meeting that there were “too many bears.”
Shadix also recounts a pivotal period in 2015, early in the last bear hunt, when back surgery had confined her to bed. She was scrolling through Facebook, horrified to see posts about the hunt–called a friend to drive her to witness the ursine carnage; she shares a scene in which she encountered a female bear (pointing out those killed in the slaughter were 60% female), promising the bear she would never allow another hunt to happen.
Clearly, Shadix is doing her level best to make good on that promise, educating gatherings about the critical numbers–once, the Florida Black Bear population was 11,000; it’s now 4000…20% die annually, owing to habitat change and being hit by vehicles.
And she underscored the importance of voicing opposition to the hunt through comments emailed to [email protected] (additionally, there was a commenting portal available on the FWC website, but it closed on May 16) or, in person, at the FWC meeting on May 21 in Ocala, starting at 8:30 a.m. College of Central Florida, The Ewers Century Center, Klein Conference Center, Building 40, 3001 S.W. College Rd. Ocala, FL 34474
Shadix said plenty more, including offering some observations about FWC commissioners, described her recent major victory on behalf of manatees, winning its federal lawsuit against the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), declaring the FDEP violated the Endangered Species Act–and tipping her hand that Bear Warriors United plans to file a lawsuit against the FWC.
XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>
Interviews about animals and animal issues, animal songs, animal comedy, animal news, and even a “Name That Animal Tune” quiz, with host Duncan Strauss. More information–including guests and topics featured since the program’s inception in 2003–can be found on the show website: http://www.talkinganimals.net/
Here are some (mostly) free summer youth programs in St. Petersburg
Talking Animals: Founder of Bear Warriors United discusses the proposed bear hunt and how Floridians can offer their comments on it
Top 10 Spins on WMNF 88.5 FM
New College alumni group ‘appalled’ at recent school controversies
Taylor Reed Live at Live Music Showcase
You may also like
According to a press release from City of St. Petersburg,…
Listen: New College of Florida, the small Sarasota school that…
WMNF headlines including hurricane season, Tampa protests, Pine Island Preserve…
The Gulfport beach ban prohibits cigarettes and other tobacco products,…
WMNF is listener-supported. That means we don’t advertise like a commercial station, and we’re not part of a university.
WMNF volunteers have fun providing a variety of needed services to keep your community radio station alive and kickin’.
Proud member of Project Galileo and protected by Cloudflare
WMNF is a registered 501(с)3 charitable organization – The Nathan B. Stubblefield Foundation, Inc. | Online Public File
2025 WMNF 88.5 FM
Nothing Found
Have a request? Or if you just wanna let our DJ know you’re enjoying their show.
Call the DJ: 813-239-9663
Email the DJ: [email protected]
Text the DJ: 813-433-0885
Signup below to get The Scoop delivered every weekday to your email inbox.
WMNF advises you to check with the individual venues or event planners listed before heading to anything posted here. There is a high likelihood that many events have been or will be canceled or postponed.
Thank you for visiting wmnf.org ~
WMNF is non-commercial community conscious radio – we survive only due to the generosity of listeners like you. Please consider a sustaining monthly contribution and receive annual coupons for swag when you Join the WMNF Circle of Friends.
