BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - There’s a $6,000 reward for information about whoever killed a Louisiana black bear last month, Louisiana’s Department of Wildlife and Fisheries said Tuesday.
Agents were told about the bear and collected its body May 17 from St. Mary Parish south of Franklin, according to a news release. A necropsy found that it had been shot with a rifle a few days earlier.
The reward is being offered by the department’s Operation Game Thief, the Humane Society of the United States, and the Acadiana chapter of a hunting organization called Safari Club International. It will be paid for information that leads to the bear-killer’s arrest and conviction.
Although authorities decided in 2016 that Louisiana black bears no longer need protection under the Endangered Species Act, it is still illegal to hunt them.
The department says tips can be called in to the Louisiana Operation Game Thief hotline at 1-800-442-2511 or texted via the department’s tip411 program. Both are monitored 24 hours a day and informants may remain anonymous.
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