A George County man who pleaded guilty to killing a Louisiana black bear has begun serving a 30-day sentence.

Darryl Eubanks was sentenced in December after pleading guilty in U.S. District Court to killing the black bear, an endangered species. He also was fined $5,000 fine and was ordered to pay $10,000 to the Bear Education and Restoration Group of Mississippi.

He begins serving his sentence earlier this month.

Eubanks also was prohibited from hunting during one year of supervised release probation.

Prosecutors say Eubanks shot the bear twice while he was hunting deer with his dogs between Dec. 24, 2007, and Jan. 18, 2008. Eubanks loaded the bear on a trailer to dump the corpse.

Eubanks told a judge in October that he shot the bear in self defense.