Nearly two-dozen environmental groups are joining a legal effort aimed at stopping Florida's first bear hunt in two decades.
They filed a "friend of court" brief Friday in Tallahassee in support of the lawsuit against the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The groups include the Animal Legal Defense Fund, South Florida Wildlands Association and Stop the Florida Bear Hunt.
The action supports a lawsuit filed by Speak Up Wekiva and central Florida activist Chuck O'Neal calling on a judge to stop the bear hunt next month.
The hunt quota is 320 bears, but environmentalists say under the rules of the hunt more bears could end up being killed.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission approved the hunt earlier this year in response to a growing number of complaints about bears in neighborhoods.
The state agency says it will monitor the hunt closely and end it early once the goal is met.
