Reward increased to $4,000 in ‘senseless’ killing of black bear in LaGrange

By Christopher Burns, Bangor Daily News Staff

The reward for information in last month’s killing of a black bear in LaGrange has been upped to $4,000.

The adult male black bear was shot several times and dumped off a bridge into Dead Stream off South LaGrange Road in late April.

Operation Game Thief initially offered a $2,000 reward for information leading to the identity of the poacher, but on Friday, May 6 that was raised to $4,000, according to Mark Latti, a spokesperson for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Warden Lt. Aaron Cross last month called the killing “senseless” and a waste of a “prized natural resource.”

Anyone with information about the killing can call Operation Game Thief at 1-800-ALERT-US. All calls are confidential.