Charges have been filed against two Alaskans as the result of an Alaska Wildlife Trooper investigation into illegal hunting practices. Troopers have also seized property that was used to facilitate the illegal activity.
Andrew Renner, 41 of Wasilla, and Owen Renner, 18 of Wasilla, were indicted Monday, August 6 on felony and misdemeanor charges stemming from a poaching incident on April 14, 2018. A. Renner and O. Renner shot and killed a sow black bear, along with its two cubs, in its den on Esther Island in Prince William Sound. The bears were a part of a USFS/ADF&G bear study.
As a part of the study, the sow was collared and a motion activated game audio/video camera was set up at the den site. The video shows A. Renner and O. Renner skiing up to the den and then O. Renner firing two shots at the denning sow. A. Renner then kills the shrieking newborn bear cubs and discards their bodies away from the den. Two days after the animals were killed, A. Renner and O. Renner return to the kill site to pick up the shells and to dispose of the dead bear cubs.
On April 30, A. Renner brought the sow black bear skin and the collar to ADF&G in Palmer and reported he killed the animal near Granite Bay in Prince William Sound on April 14. He further reported that while he realized after shooting it that the sow had teats, no cubs were present or located. The vessel, vehicle used to facilitate the hunt, and hunting rifles were seized during the investigation. Charges against the men include Tampering with Physical Evidence, Unlawfully Take Female Bear with Cubs, Unlawfully Take Bear Cub x 2, Possess/Transport Illegally Taken Game x 3. A. Renner was additionally charged with Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor and Unsworn Falsification in the Second Degree.
“Hunting laws and regulations exist to help ensure that the many species of Alaska wildlife will continue to exist for generations to come, and Wildlife Troopers take them very seriously,” AWT Colonel Steve Hall said. “Tools used in the commission of a crime are at times seized based upon the severity of the crime. In this case, numerous crimes, including felonies, are believed to have been committed; the truck and boat used to transport the suspects to and from the crime scene were seized.”