Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries enforcement agents cited a New Iberia man and his juvenile son on June 23 for alleged black bear violations in Iberia Parish.
After a lengthy investigation, agents cited Elie P. Dupre, 59, and his 15 year old son for the illegal killing of a Louisiana black bear off of Weeks Island Road near Lydia in 2015.
Agents were alerted about a dead Louisiana Black Bear that appeared to have been shot off of Weeks Island Road on Nov. 4, 2015. LDWF conducted a necropsy on the deceased female black bear and removed a single bullet. It was later determined that the bullet was fired from a 7mm-08 caliber rifle.
On Dec. 27, 2015, agents arrested Dupre for a separate night hunting case that took place in the vicinity of where the black bear was found shot. Agents seized three firearms in connection with the night hunting violations one of which was a 7mm-08 rifle.
Agents sent the 7mm-08 rifle to the crime lab for a ballistics test, which took up to seven months to complete. The ballistics test determined that the bullet removed from the bear had been fired from the seized 7mm-08 rifle.
After further investigation, agents also learned that Dupre’s son was with him at the time the black bear was shot.
The nine year old, 250 pound female black bear was part of a long term monitoring program and wore a tracking collar. Over the eight years the bear wore the tracking collar it provided researchers with valuable information on black bear populations, productivity and population viability in the state of Louisiana.
Illegally killing a Louisiana Black Bear brings a $900 to $950 fine and up to 120 days in jail. The father and son also face up to $10,000 in civil restitution for the replacement value of the black bear.
Agents involved in the case are Senior Agent Andrew Arton, Senior Agent David Boudreaux, Sgt Brian Theriot and Senior Agent Cullom Schexnyder.