Latest news with #bighornsheep
CTV News
3 days ago
- CTV News
Ballistic analysis leads to conviction in case of illegal bighorn sheep hunting near Jasper
Four men killed at least four bighorn sheep in Cadomin, Alta., in September 2024. (Source: Fish and Wildlife) Four men were recently convicted of illegally hunting bighorn sheep in Cadomin, Alta., last September. They killed at least four bighorn sheep, including a sublegal ram, at a mine site that's been closed to hunting for more than 40 years, Alberta Fish and Wildlife said on Facebook. Analysis of the bullets at a lab operated by the Edmonton Police Service and the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams tied the four men to the kills, Fish and Wildlife said. They pleaded guilty in Hinton in May and received $26,000 in fines and a one-year hunting prohibition. Charges included hunting without a licence and unlawful possession of wildlife.
CBC
4 days ago
- CBC
Alberta conservationists, sheep outfitter call for stiffer poaching penalties after 4 men fined $26K
Four men who illegally killed bighorn sheep in western Alberta were fined $26,000 combined and each received one-year hunting bans — penalties some say are not steep enough. According to a Facebook post from Alberta Fish and Wildlife Enforcement, a group of hunters illegally killed at least four bighorn sheep, including a sublegal ram, in September in the former Gregg and Cardinal River mine sites near Cadomin, Alta., about 320 kilometres southwest of Edmonton. Semi-retired bighorn sheep outfitter Lorne Hindbo told CBC News the area is known for being a bighorn sheep habitat, but is well-policed and has been closed to hunting for decades. "The nerve… it's almost like driving over into Jasper and doing it," he said. An Alberta Fish and Wildlife spokesperson told CBC News that its officers regularly plan and conduct proactive enforcement patrols to address known issues, and ensure compliance with the province's resource legislation that supports conserving and protecting natural resources. On social media, the government said one such patrol in the remote area eventually led to convictions against the four central Alberta men. Investigators analyzed DNA samples and bullets, linking the kills to the individuals. Some of the charges the men faced included hunting without a licence, wastage of wildlife and trespassing. They pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of wildlife in Hinton Provincial Court last month. They are each suspended from hunting for one year, and have to complete the first-time hunter education course before applying for recreational hunting licenses, the Alberta Fish and Wildlife spokesperson said. Two of the men were fined $10,000, another was fined $4,000 and the fourth was fined $2,000. All "wildlife items" seized throughout the investigation were given to the Crown, they said. But fines aren't high enough to deter poaching, said John E. Marriott, a professional wildlife photographer in Canmore, Alta., and co-founder of the Exposed Wildlife Conservancy. Sheep hunts can cost tens of thousands of dollars, he said. A permit granting hunters permission to hunt year-round for a single bighorn sheep recently netted the Alberta government $400,000 US at an auction. Marriott said $26,000 is a pittance and the one-year hunting bans are even more frustrating. "We should be looking at five-, 10-, 20-year bans, as well as firearm bans," he said. Ruiping Luo, a conservation specialist with the Alberta Wilderness Association, also said the fines don't go far enough. "We should consider that we spend millions on conservation each year, just to try to maintain these landscapes and to maintain the wildlife in them," Luo said. "At the very least, it should be set perhaps at a couple hundred thousand dollars for the licenses, but probably more than that." She said poaching makes it hard for the province to sustainably manage wildlife.
CBC
16-05-2025
- CBC
B.C. man gets hunting ban, $13k penalty after illegally killing bighorn ram
Social Sharing A British Columbia man has been banned from hunting sheep in the province for three years after he illegally killed a bighorn ram and lied to authorities about where the hunt took place. B.C.'s Conservation Officer Service says in a statement posted to Facebook that Heith Proulx of Kelowna killed the ram in October 2023 near Pavilion Lake, 28 kilometres northwest of Lillooet. The service says Proulx had the animal inspected as required by law a month later and told inspectors the ram was harvested from an area where it was open season on bighorns. But the service says global positioning co-ordinates showed it was killed in a closed area. The service says Proulx admitted to lying about the location of the hunt when officers spoke to him in March 2024, and he has since pleaded guilty to making a false statement to official record keepers under the Wildlife Act. Proulx was fined $13,000 and cannot hunt or accompany other hunters for hunting any type of sheep for the next three years in B.C. The service says much of the fine will go to the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, while Proulx had to forfeit all wildlife parts seized in the case to the Crown and retake an outdoor recreation conservation program. "The harvest of a mature ram from this closed area is contrary to conservation objectives and resulted in an overall harvest that exceeded the annual allowable harvest established to guide sustainable harvest levels," the service says in its statement. The service says the Fraser River area, which includes Lillooet, supports about half of B.C.'s California bighorn sheep population. It says a provincial senior wildlife biologist who submitted an impact statement to the courts in this case found that the value of an opportunity for non-resident hunters to harvest one wild bighorn ram in B.C. has risen to more than $150,000 in the last few years.
CTV News
16-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
B.C. hunter fined thousands for poaching bighorn sheep
In this Dec. 28, 2004 file photo, a bighorn sheep ram grazes along the North Fork of the Shoshone River, just off Wyoming Highway between Cody, Wyo. and Yellowstone National Park. (Ap Photo/ Billings Gazette, Allison Batdorff )
