Florida Wildlife Officer Continues to Recover

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) Officer Vann Streety is recovering well from injuries he sustained in a July 2009 shooting that occurred while working in Brevard County.
Streety reports he is feeling healthy, both emotionally and physically. His left arm, injured by a .45-caliber round, has healed well.  He is continuing with the physical [...]

Help Florida Wildlife Affected by Cold Weather

The figures are astounding and unprecedented. More than 4,500 sea turtles were rescued from the cold water in January. Manatee carcasses continue to appear, putting the deaths for 2010 at more than 200 after only one month. For comparison, the highest number of manatee deaths for a single calendar year is 429.
Massive efforts by the [...]

Watching Wildlife in Florida

Watching wildlife is such big business in Florida that Gov. Charlie Crist proclaimed Jan. 25-31 Florida Birding & Wildlife Watching and Natural Resource Education Week.
More people travel to Florida each year to view wildlife than to any other state, according to research by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). That spells big business [...]

Record Temps Lead to Record Manatee Count

After nearly two weeks of record cold weather in Florida, biologists counted an all-time-high number of manatees during the annual synoptic survey the week of Jan. 11.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) Fish and Wildlife Research Institute reported a preliminary count of 5,067 manatees statewide. A team of 21 observers from 10 organizations [...]

Catch and Release of Snook, Tarpon and Bonefish Still Allowed

While the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) issued an executive order on Jan. 15 that temporarily extends closed harvest seasons for snook statewide and establishes temporary statewide closed harvest seasons for bonefish and tarpon, the FWC advises anglers that catch-and-release fishing for these important game fish species is still allowed.
The FWC appreciates angler [...]

Alligator Attack on Golfer

DISTURBING IMAGE WARNING: Photographs purportedly show a golfer whose arm was torn off by an alligator.

Two Manatees Rescued

Biologists with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) Fish and Wildlife Research Institute were busy Thursday rescuing two injured manatees from the east and west coasts.  One manatee was rescued in Palm Beach County; the other was rescued in Pinellas County.
FWC biologists and local law enforcement agencies rescued an 8-foot male manatee with [...]

Reptile Ring Busted

Working on an anonymous tip, investigators with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) busted a Palm Beach County reptile store for selling pythons illegally.
Mark Bavosa, 45, of Boynton Beach, owner of Reptiles Plus Inc. in Lake Worth, was charged with two misdemeanors – illegal sale of a reptile of concern (ROC) to an [...]

Florida Increases Protection of Sharks

You may see sharks as nothing more than vicious killers that need to be eliminated, but they play an important part in the ecosystem. Now the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has approved a series of rules to enhance its long-standing policy to protect stressed shark populations in Florida waters. These rules also [...]

Accused Lobster Poacher Caught

A traffic stop along the Florida Turnpike Wednesday revealed a major wildlife law violation.  Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) officers responded when summoned to the scene by Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputies.
A vehicle inspection revealed a cooler containing 232 lobster tails, 167 of which were undersized.  Alberto Varea, 54, of Hialeah, was charged [...]

Next Page »