ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A suspect has been arrested in the shooting of a bear with a bow and arrow near Taos in October.
The Albuquerque Journal reported Friday a man was charged in Taos Magistrate Court with unlawful killing of big game by shooting from the road and failing to tag the bear, both misdemeanors.
The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish said last month it was investigating the Oct. 29 incident in Arroyo Seco.
Bears are a protected species in New Mexico, but bear hunting was allowed in that area at the time of killing, officials said previously.
But the newspaper reported that court documents state a Taos area man shot the bear in a tree with a bow and arrow, then shot it a second time after a bystander told him to “shoot it again” so it wouldn’t suffer.
The man then “left the area where the bear was killed and made no attempt to retrieve the bear,” authorities allege.
The next day the Taos Volunteer Fire Department removed the bear from the tree with a ladder truck.
