Bear found in woods with a bullet shot through ribcage in Yancey WMA on Dec. 20
Agents with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries are looking for leads on who illegally killed a black bear found in Concordia Parish on Dec. 20.
A citizen alerted authorities about the bear, which was found dead in the woods of the Yancey Wildlife Management Area about 35 miles south of Ferriday, according to a press release.
A necropsy revealed the bear had been dead for about a week, and that it was shot through the ribcage, the release stated. Agents believe the bear was shot from an elevated deer stand because of the angle of the bullet.
LDWF’s Operation Game Thief is offering a cash reward up to $1,000 and the Humane Society of the U.S. and the Humane Society Wildlife Land Trust is offering up to $5,000 to anyone with information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible, the release states.
Anyone with information should call the Louisiana Operation Game Thief hotline at 1-800-442-2511 or use LDWF’s tip411 program. To use the tip411 program, citizens can text LADWF and their tip to 847411 or download the “LADWF Tips” iPhone and Android app from the Apple App Store or Google Play free of charge.
The hotline and the tip411 program are monitored 24 hours a day, and tipsters can remain anonymous.
The Louisiana black bear has been listed on the Federal Threatened and Endangered Species List since 1992. Citizens are reminded that killing a Louisiana black bear is a violation of both state law and the federal Endangered Species Act. Violators are subject to penalties of up to $50,000 and six months in jail. In addition, a restitution fine of $10,000 for the bear may be imposed on anyone convicted of killing a black bear in Louisiana.
