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B.C. conservation officers looking for illegally hunted ram

Man convicted of killing stone sheep ram said it had been stolen afterward.
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Conservation officers are looking for a ram that is supposed to be forfeited to them by order of the court. As shown here

A man convicted of hunting illegally in the Spatzizi Provincial Park was ordered by court to turn over the ram he killed but said he couldn't because it had been stolen.

Jordan Patrick Garbitt of Moberly Lake, B.C. was convicted in Dawson Creek Provincial Court on February 24, 2016 for hunting a stone sheep ram in Spatzizi Provincial Park without a Limited Entry Hunting Authorization.

The conviction stems from a two-year investigation where it was alleged that Garbitt and two other hunting partners flew into Coldfish Lake, and killed a stone sheep ram in September 2012.

Garbitt, who is a Treaty 8 Indian, claimed the ram was killed within the Treaty 8 area, which Spatzizi Park is not part of.

The judge sentenced Garbitt to a $1,000 fine and ordered that he pay an additional $3,500 to the Habitat Conservation Trust Fund.

The judge further ordered that Garbitt was prohibited in hunting anywhere outside of the Treaty 8 area for a period of one year, and that the ram was to be forfeited to the crown.

In court, Garbitt told the judge that the ram, which was a finished wall mount as shown in the photo, was stolen.

The Conservation Officer Service is asking for the public’s assistance in locating this ram and would like to remind the public that rewards are sometimes available from outside agencies where assistance is provided to an investigation.

The ram is permanently marked with Government PIN identification number of H955 which is drilled into the rear of the left horn of the sheep.

The horns of sheep have their own characteristics and can sometimes be identified similar to fingerprints.

Any information can be provided to the BC Conservation Officer Service by calling the RAPP line at 1-877-952-7277.