Ayr man fined over illegal killing of bear

A black bear is pictured on May 27, 2012. (Nathan Denette / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

An Ayr man who killed a black bear without being licensed to do so has been fined $1,000.

According Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, the man shot the bear last November while hunting deer near Eganville, about 130 kilometres west of Ottawa.

The following day, the man purchased a licence to hunt black bears. He then drove the bear’s remains to a butcher shop somewhere in southern Ontario.

His scheme was discovered when a conservation officer spotted the remains while inspecting the butcher shop a few days later, and noticed inconsistencies in how they had been tagged.