A reality TV personality known as the “Bear Whisperer” is facing federal charges for illegally poaching a bear later featured on the show, according to a criminal complaint first obtained by The Daily Beast.
Harvey Neil Anthony, who goes by Blaine Anthony professionally, violated the Lacey Act when he shot and killed a black bear in Alaska’s Kenai Fjords National Park, then lied on official paperwork about where the animal had been bagged, prosecutors say.
“Black bears occur throughout the Park and represent a significant wildlife component of its ecosystem,” the complaint explains. “Hunting is prohibited in the Park.”
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The Lacey Act, which was first enacted in 1900, bans the trafficking of wildlife that has been unlawfully taken or transported.
To legally hunt bears in Alaska, residents are required to apply for a slew of licenses, permits, and tags. Out-of-state hunters “must be accompanied in the field by an Alaska-licensed guide or a resident relative within second-degree of kindred,” according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
In 2012, far-right rocker Ted Nugent pleaded guilty to illegally killing a black bear in Alaska, later airing the footage on his own television show, Spirit of the Wild. Nugent received two years probation, agreed to film a public service announcement promoting responsible hunting, paid a $10,000 fine, and promised not to hunt or fish on any U.S. Forest Service lands for one full year.
Anthony, 55, produces and stars in The Bear Whisperer, a hunting show in which he “aims to not only entertain viewers with upbeat and exciting hunts with Blaine’s quirky appearance and upbeat attitude, but also educate them on all that pertains to conserving and protecting the future of the bears.”
The show, which is backed by Anthony’s Maine-based Nature Productions, began airing in 2011. It has been seen on the Outdoor Adventure Network, the Pursuit Channel, and the Hunting Channel Online. Nature Productions bills itself as “one of the foremost providers of production services for programs on networks such as Discovery, Outdoor Channel, Sportsman Channel, Pursuit, Fox Sports, NBC Sports and syndicated television.” Anthony also appears on a self-produced online show called Freedom Fighters, in which he and his co-host rail against immigration, gun control, and universal healthcare.
Anthony describes himself as having “always had a connection and understanding with bears without ever loosing [sic] the respect of the awesome predator. Considered to be one of the only ‘true’ bear conservationist [sic] employing real conservation methods such as tagging, tracking and maybe the most important conservation efforts of all hunting, Blaine brings a real life, no holds barred show to millions every week.”
But that’s not what the feds say.
Between 2011 and 2019, Anthony participated in at least eight hunting trips to the Kenai Peninsula, looking for black bear, according to the complaint against him unsealed Monday. They moved from place to place aboard a boat, operated by a captain identified in the complaint only as “Individual A,” the complaint states.
Over the course of a four-day hunt in May 2017, Anthony and his crew allegedly shot and killed a black bear in Pilot Harbor, within the Kenai Fjords National Park, where hunting is illegal.
“Video footage was taken of the hunt for use on Harvey Neil Anthony and Nature Productions, Inc.’s television hunting show,” according to the complaint.
Anthony and the team then transported the dead bear to Homer, Alaska aboard Individual A’s boat, the filing continues.
On May 12, 2017, prosecutors say Anthony filed a false declaration with state officials in Alaska, stating that the black bear taken in Kenai Fjords National Park had actually been taken in Berger Bay, a legal hunting spot that lies outside the park, roughly 19 miles from the true kill site. Anthony then had the bear stuffed by a taxidermist and had the animal sent to his home in Maine.
Footage of the kill was later aired on The Bear Whisperer, as well as footage of a second illegal black bear kill taken from Kenai Fjords National Park during another trip, the feds allege.
The charges against Anthony and his production company, both misdemeanors, carry up to a year in prison and a maximum fine of $100,000 per individual and $200,000 per organization. Anthony does not have a lawyer listed in court records. Reached by phone, a staffer at Anthony’s production offices seemed unaware that Anthony had been charged but agreed to pass along The Daily Beast’s request for comment, to which he has not yet responded.
Anthony is due in court for a hearing on June 10.
