Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a bill that will increase the penalties for illegal bear hunting. The black bear population declined to just a few hundred in the 1970s, but is now estimated to be more than 4,000. Under the new law, which goes into effect July 1st, the minimum fine for bear poaching would rise from $500 to $750 and hunting licenses could be suspended for three years instead of the current one-year maximum. Bear advocates said the law is inadequate to deter illegal hunting and pointed to the fact that penalties for killing turkey and deer out of season is currently more severe than killing a bear. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission last authorized a hunt in 2015 when hunters killed 304 bears in two days.