A disturbing video footage of a father and his son shooting and killing a hibernating black bear and her cubs earlier this year was released by activists to show the importance of protecting these animals from poachers like them.
Andrew Renner and his 18-year old son, Owen Renner, were filmed killing the bear and her cubs, and bragged about getting away with their crime.
The cameras had been installed by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the US Forest Service as part of their study on the animals.
“The video starts out with the father-son duo on skis spotting a mother bear hibernating in a tree hollow on Esther Island in Prince William Sound,” Humane Society of the United States wrote in their blog with the video.
“It’s apparent from the audio that the bear is aware of the impending danger and makes sounds that indicate her fear. The two pull out their guns and fire several shots into the hollow, killing the bear even as the shrieks of her baby cubs filled the air,” the post added.
Several days after, both of them came back to the site to hide evidence – stuffing the bear cubs’ bodies into a bag and disposing the mother bear’s tracking collar.
Owen even posed for a photograph with the animal’s carcass, and then they retrieved their spent bullet casings.
There are some areas of Alaska that the act is legal, but the killing of cubs or a mother bear with her cubs, is illegal in the state where the Renners did the crime, according to the organization.
The non-profit organization added that the footage serves as a reminder of what could happen if new rules will allow the “cruel methods” of hunting animals goes into effect.
“What we say is that there were two bear cubs that were completely defenseless and were shot at point-black range,” Aaron Peterson, assistant attorney general during the prosecution of the father and son.
Andrew Renner was sentenced to three months in jail and has been barred from hunting for a decade. Meanwhile, his son received a 30-day suspended sentence and was required for community service.
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