Kids, Florida Black Bears are Big Winners in Essay Contest

Defenders of Wildlife
Monday, 6 May 2002

Jacqueline Squires of Loxahatchee Groves Elementary School decided to take a completely different point of view to approach the topic "The Florida Black Bear – An Umbrella Species" in her winning essay for Defenders of Wildlife's 2002 Florida Black Bear Essay Contest. She wrote from a bear cub's perspective. Her innovative approach, lively writing style, and clear command of the facts put her work at the top of more than 290 essays submitted by students in grades three through seven from all over Florida and other states.

"We are now back to our den. I know we are home when I see a Pine Pink Orchid on the tall tree next to our stump. I just hope in about a year when I go out on my own, everything I saw today will still have a place to call home," she wrote in her essay, which won a $1000.00 U.S. savings bond from Defenders of Wildlife and the Black Bear Insurance Agency of Longwood, Florida.

Megan Harrison of Perkins Elementary in St. Petersburg won second prize with a lively essay on the bears' habitat and the pressure on it from development throughout Florida. Ian Roseen, home schooled in Chicago, Illinois, wrote the third place essay as a story about "Blaze," a fictional Florida Black Bear cub, as he learned about a bear's life and threats to their habitat by listening to his grandmother's stories.

"On behalf of all of the associates at Black Bear Insurance Agency, congratulations to the Florida Black Bear Essay Contest winners," said Pete Anderson, Vice President of Black Bear. "Special thanks to all of the students, who by their participation, demonstrated their concern for this important native species and its remaining habitat. It's been a real privilege sponsoring the prizes for this event."

In addition to the prizes, the winning essay and first runner-up essay are posted on the Defenders of Wildlife Kid's Planet Web site, www.kidsplanet.org/contest, and will be displayed at the Carnivores 2002 conference to be held next November in Monterey, California.

"This contest was not only a great way for kids to learn about the bears, but also about the important ways that different species depend on one another," said Defenders of Wildlife's Education Associate, Yvonne Borresen. "Education is an important part of bear conservation, especially with younger audiences who may not know much about them."

A unique subspecies of the American black bear, the Florida black bear is designated a threatened species by the state of Florida. At the beginning of the 20th century, over 12,000 bears lived throughout the state from the panhandle to the Keys; today fewer than 2,000 bears remain in isolated populations – less than 20 percent of the bear's historic range in the state. In urbanizing Florida, that range continues to shrink, with an estimated 20 acres of wildlife habitat lost to development every hour. Other threats to black bears include road-kills and poaching. With the black bear considered an "umbrella" species – because protecting the habitat needed by the bear also benefits many other animals and plants that live in the same natural communities– the loss of black bears affects other animal populations as well.

For more information, or to contact Defenders of Wildlife, see their website at: www.defenders.org