I have written about bears a few times. My favorite is Winnie, Negativity, and your Inner Pooh (January 2017). And there is a great joke about two hikers and a bear. See It Can Happen to Everyone (July 2021). But, for the most part, I have remained quiet about the Bears in Paradise (sounds like a children's book, don't even think about it - copyright, judgelangham@yahoo.com, 2025).
Yes, we have had a bear issue here in Paradise for years. They are not invasive bears; their ancestors lived here long before the European settlers, and perhaps before the original immigrants walked over the land bridge, canoed in, or landed in their spacecraft (there remains debate as to how humankind first came to the Americas).
Nonetheless, here we are, and here are bears also (about 4,050 of them). Many to whom I speak at national events express incredulity when I mention bears. Everyone knows we have alligators, panthers, and snakes, but bears? Yes, Virginia, Florida has bears. I have found them on many a morning when walking. Some of them apparently live in condominiums. It turns out you cannot outrun a bear (see below), and thus the old hiker joke has some legs (so to speak).
It has become a safety issue recently. While many of us have interacted over the years, there have now been bear "attacks." One was near Naples, Florida, and resulted in a fatality. One was right here in Paradise and led to hospitalization. Both were in May, but hundreds of miles apart.
The state has coincidentally been discussing a bear hunt. If it occurs, it would be limited to about 187 bears (an oddly specific number, perhaps). This would be the first hunt in about 10 years. Despite the recent spate of violence, the idea is opposed by 75% to 92% of Floridians. Thus, there is a known safety issue, societal challenge, a debate, and as yet no consensus.
The great bear debate came back to me recently when the Associated Press published a fascinating article about animals interacting with people in Zimbabwe (once "Rhodesia" under British colonial rule). That country is challenged by the results of “conservation decisions" that have allowed a great expansion of the elephant population. The "population is estimated at around 100,000, nearly double the land’s capacity," and hunting them is forbidden for the most part.
Elephants can run up to 40 miles per hour (for short distances). The Black Bear here in Paradise can run about 30 miles per hour. The fastest human is about 24 miles per hour, and I am comfortable concluding that Mr. Bolt is substantially faster than I am. Despite his speed, Mr. Bolt could not outrun an elephant or a bear (for that matter, he could not outrun a Florida panther or alligator - 35MPH). These animals are all way faster than I am. When we look at each other, I see nature, and they perhaps see food.
Back to Africa. The residents there have engaged technology in defense of their safety. They have placed GPS tags on some of the elephants (they often travel in groups, monitoring one may monitor many). The effort "aims to prevent dangerous encounters between people and elephants." Imagine an alert on your iPhone when danger lurks - a storm alert for lurking bears, gators, or panthers.
An added challenge in Zimbabwe is that many do not have cell phones (I envy them). See Do You Have Nomophobia? (November 2014), They Should Open a Resort There (April 2013). I am not saying I dislike technology. I merely long for the slower pace that was possible and practical before information was instantaneous, constant, and persistently divisive.
Believe it or not, the folks in Zimbabwe have appointed people to listen for the elephant alerts and provide a warning. They monitor their cell phones, and when a herd is coming, they literally "post() warnings in WhatsApp groups" and then "speed() off on (a) bicycle to inform nearby residents without phones or network access." Sounds a bit like Paul Revere? "The elephants are coming, the elephants are coming!"
Despite this process, some Zimbabweans "want() stronger action." They suggest an elephant hunt, "culling them." So, about 8,000 miles in between, and a completely distinct classification (not Kingdom, we are all part of Kingdom Animalia; same phylum, class, subclass. It is not until you get down to order that we are distinct: we are Order Primates, and elephants are Order Proboscidea, and bears are Order Carnivora). That last one is somewhat interesting. Carnivora eat meat. We are meat. Just saying.
I know, I know, what does this have to do with workers' compensation? Statler and Waldorf are on the balcony, shifting in their seats and preparing the tirade. Well, before they "grab their torches and pitchforks ...."
We see a coming tsunami of technology. There are advances being achieved daily with artificial intelligence and predictive analytics. The tech is integrating and ingratiating into the realms of worker medical care, financial anticipation, and benefit distribution. The market demands efficiency, and the participants are leveraging in search of comparative advantage. Any economist could explain this better than I can.
But, like the distinctions between Zimbabwe and Florida, it is possible that there will be parallels in terms of threat and challenge (bears or elephants, hunts, conservation, etc.). And yet, there may remain instances in which the degree of technology access or implementation may be distinct, disparate, and discordant.
As challenges are discussed, some may have the opportunity to deploy (GPS on elephants), while that solution may be overlooked or eschewed with similar challenges (why not GPS on bears?). When tech is deployed, that may presuppose singularity, but may nonetheless require human cooperation (Paul Revere, so to speak). In short, tech may aid here and not there (or more precisely, there and not here), may stand alone or depend on humans, and may solve issues or merely ameliorate challenge severity.
The point is that imagination will continue to be engaged. Technology will be one path of improvement in the world of workers' compensation, and various jurisdictions, groups, and academics will react to challenges. Ideas will be floated, debates conducted, and solutions attempted.
The world of workers' compensation (the "WWC," copyright 2025) will evolve through inspiration, trial, error, and further attempts. In the process, there will be progress, but there will also be many different views and perspectives, just as there is debate on the population of bears and elephants.
It also occurs to me that after several decades in this community, I have finally addressed the elephant in the room. Actually, factually, non-metaphorically addressed the elephant in the room. And it turns out it was a bear all along. Eureka!