A Leon County circuit judge on Monday rejected a group’s request for a temporary injunction to halt the state’s first black bear hunt in a decade.

With the three-week hunt set to begin Dec. 6, Circuit Judge Angela Dempsey said Bear Warriors United, a Central Florida-based nonprofit, was unable to show “substantial likelihood of success on the merits” in its lawsuit challenging the hunt.

Dempsey also noted Bear Warriors United was able to participate in the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s rulemaking process that led to plans for the hunt.

The bear hunt, the first approved by the commission since 2015, could lead to as many as 172 bears being killed in four regions of the state. The commission issued 172 hunting permits, with each recipient able to kill one bear.

The

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