After a female moose was shot dead along Hwy37 between Terrace and Kitimat last week, B.C. conservation officers are sending a message to moose poachers. Stop.
On Jan. 10 near Williams Creek Bridge, conservation officers discovered a three-year-old cow moose that had been shot in the early hours of the morning. They waited to see if poachers would later return to pick up their prize. They didn’t.
The moose is the tenth to be shot illegally this season, and conservation officers say they suspect someone shot out of the window of a vehicle due to the proximity of the animal to the road and a lack of human footprints seen in the snow.
“We have some people that think it’s a good idea to shoot them right off the highway, and a lot of the times they’ll go back for them at night time,” said conservation officer Gareth Scrivner. “Anyone who saw anything suspicious in that area, we certainly want to hear from them.”
Conservation officers want to emphasize that it is illegal to hunt for moose when the season is closed and all-year-round within 400 metres on each side of Hwy 16, Hwy 113 and Hwy 37.
“This is for public safety,” said Scrivner. “The local moose population is down and this is in part due to illegal harvest of (female) moose, who are usually pregnant this time of year.”
Scrivner said that moose shot along the highways are a big problem in this area, especially since they migrate to lower ground once the weather cools off, bringing them closer to roads.
Anyone who sees anything suspicious should record information and report it to a poaching and polluting tips line soon as possible, he said, adding anybody offering moose meat for sale should be reported as well at 1-877-952-7277.