Since he was accused all over social media of being the hunter who shot and killed Pedals the bipedal bear, Thomas McCreary said people have threatened to kill him and his family, rape his wife and sister, burn his home and business, even come to the business to "shoot it out" with him.

The state Department of Environmental Protection's Bob Considine confirmed Monday that McCreary was not the person who turned a bear in that appears to be Pedals, which became an internet sensation last year through a number of videos on social media.

That bear was brought to Green Pond station in Rockaway on Oct. 10 during last week's extended bear hunt. Although the DEP said there's no way to verify if the bear is Pedals, the agency said is appeared to be the same bear.

McCreary said on Monday he did not kill the bear, nor did he take part in this year's extended hunt. McCreary showed NJ Advance Media his 2016 Zone 4 black bear hunting permit. If he had turned a bear in at a check-in station, the "Black Bear Transportation Tag" would have been removed from the permit, he said.

"No, I didn't kill Pedals," McCreary said. "I've never shot a bear in New Jersey. It's as simple as calling the Division of Fish and Game to see if I've ever checked in a bear in the state of New Jersey.

"Do you think anybody bothered to check?"

McCreary said the accusations began when he went on the now-closed Pedals Facebook page and questioned whether the bear had been killed. In the days since then, he said his picture and address have been posted online. NJ Advance Media is not releasing where McCreary lives or where his business is.

"This shows how the animal rights activists operate," said McCreary. "They'll propagate any type of lie to push their agenda. If you don't align with them or agree with them or question them, they threaten your life and your family's life. They're nothing more than a bunch of cowards and domestic terrorists."

When the online accusations began, McCreary said he didn't feel the need to defend himself against something he didn't do.

"We asked him outright a couple of days ago if he did it and he wouldn't answer," said Lisa Rose Rublack, who started a petition to have Pedals relocated, and is close friends with Sabrina Walsh Pugsley, who managed the Facebook page.

"We would've helped him more if he denied doing it," Rublack said. "We couldn't defend his answer 'What if I did?' It's a shame the public is so hostile."

Pugsley, who, in August 2015, launched a GoFundMe page to raise funds to capture and rehabilitate Pedals, said Monday that she never mentioned McCreary's name "other than to defend him. Unfortunately, he made some very taunting comments on a Pedals Facebook page and people used that against him."

The Facebook page was shut down because of the growing number of threats being made against McCreary on it.

"What Sabrina and the Pedals' group are doing is a good thing with good intentions," McCreary said. "It's just the anti-hunting people on her page. They don't act rationally. I'll never apologize for being a hunter."

After Pedals was first sighted, the public immediately took to the bear, who became an internet sensation and drew media coverage from around the world. Pedals had last been seen in late June on a golf course in Oak Ridge.

Kelcey Burguess, a black bear biologist with the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, has said Pedals most likely got hit by a car, which is what caused him to walk upright.

Dave Hutchinson may be reached at dhutchinson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DHutch_SL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.