Two Wasilla men charged in bear poaching

ESTHER ISLAND — Two Wasilla men have been charged following the unlawful hunting of a black bear sow and her cubs. 41-year-old Andrew Renner and 18-year-old Owen Renner of Wasilla were charged with Tampering with Physical Evidence, Unlawfully Take Female Bear with Cubs, two counts of Unlawfully Take Bear Cub, three counts of Possess/Transport Illegally Taken Game, and Andrew was charged with Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor and Unsworn Falsification 2.

The Renners were hunting on Esther Island in Prince William Sound on April 14 when they skied up to a bear den and Owen shot twice at the sow. Andrew then shot the shrieking newborn cubs and discarded them. The hunting violations were caught on video, as a U.S. Forest Service and Alaska Department of Fish and Game Study were being conducted on the bears. The sow had a collar and a motion activated camera was set up in the den. The Renner’s returned to the site two days after shooting the mother and three cubs to pick up the discarded shells and dispose of the bodies of the three dead bear cubs, authorities say.

On April 30, Andrew Renner brought the skin and collar from the sow to the ADF&G in Palmer and reported that he had harvested the animal near Granite Bay in Prince William Sound on April 14. He said that he did not identify the sow until after he had shot it, and that there were no cubs present.

AST seized the vessel, the vehicle used to facilitate the hunt, and rifles.

“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.”