A 32-year-old man who claimed he shot a black bear in defense of life or property near Seward was charged after he did not properly surrender the carcass to the state, troopers said.
Mark Anthony Caywood is accused of cutting off the bear's paws to keep as a trophies before lighting the rest of the carcass on fire in Game Management Unit 7, Alaska State Troopers wrote in an online dispatch.
According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game website, when someone kills a bear in defense of life or property, the carcass belongs to the state. The person must give the hide, with claws attached, and the skull to Fish and Game.
The state also requires the shooter to immediately notify the Alaska State Troopers Bureau of Wildlife or Fish and Game.
The dispatch did not specify what Caywood claimed happened to warrant killing the bear.
Caywood, of Wasilla and Abilene, Texas, faces a single charge of failing to salvage and surrender a black bear taken in defense of life or property, troopers wrote.
He is expected to be arraigned Aug. 18 in Seward District Court.