A wildlife advocacy group has released footage of a US father and son illegally killing a hibernating black bear her cubs.

On Wednesday, the Humane Society of the United States published the video showing Andrew and Owen Renner shooting the animals in Alaska last April.

The Renners can be seen arriving at a den on Esther Island and firing a series of shots inside as the cubs shriek.

The hunters then pull out the mother bear and butcher it.

0:00 Video warning (distressing content): Poachers arrested for killing bear and cubs. 00:00 / 00:00 Share Share on Twitter

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"They'll never be able to link it to us ... you and me don't f*** around, we go where we want to kill s***," one of the men says on the video.

The video then shows the pair returning days later and removing the cubs' bodies in plastic bags.

The practice of killing a denning bear and cubs is illegal in the area. As a result, the pair faced court and received fines and a jail sentence in January.

The Renners were unaware they were being filmed by the US Forest Service and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, who were conducting a study in the area.

The Humane Society of the United States acquired the video from the department via a public records request.

The Humane Society of the United States

President and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States Kitty Block called the incident "reprehensible".

Ms Block also said it called attention to the Trump administration's efforts to roll back Obama-era prohibitions of various "egregious" killing methods.

"The Renners' actions demonstrate the ruthless brutality that the government is poised to enact into law on millions of acres in Alaska, overturning a 2015 Obama-era rule that prohibits the killing of black bear mothers and cubs in their dens on these lands," she said.

"This kind of killing runs contrary to the very purpose of federal public lands like national preserves and national wildlife refuges.

"It is too sad and too late for this mum and her babies, but not too late for the government to abandon this heartless plan to enable such killing and instead maintain the rules that protect America's iconic wildlife."