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 poachers 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 licences, 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 licences, but probably more than that.”
She said poaching makes it hard for the province to sustainably manage wildlife.
