Footage has been released of a father and his son illegally shooting and killing a hibernating black bear and her screaming cubs in Alaska before bragging about getting away with the crime.
The footage shows the men carving up the mother bear and saying:“They’ll never be able to link us to this. You and me do what the f*** we want. We go places – kill s***.”
A motion-activated camera set up outside the den as part of a bear study by the US Forest Service and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game captured the carnage.
The video, since released by The Humane Society, shows the pair skiing up to the den carrying guns before shooting the sow as her cubs scream.
The men then pull the body out of the den and high-five each other before Mr Renner takes a photo of his son holding up the bear’s paw.
The camera also picked up the men returning to the site several days later to hide evidence, stuff the bear cubs’ bodies into a bag, disposing of a tracking collar placed on the sow and retrieving spent bullet casings.
Although legal in some areas of Alaska, the killing of cubs, or a mother bear with her cubs, is illegal where the Renners killed the family of bears.
Both men pleaded guilty to multiple misdemeanour counts, including the illegal killing of bears.
At their sentencing, Andrew Renner was ordered to pay a $9,000 fine, forfeit a pickup truck, boat and trailer, weapons, skis and mobile phones. His hunting license was revoked for 10 years.
Owen Renner was ordered to take a hunters' safety course and his hunting license was suspended for two years.
