Conservation officers are investigating after a moose cow and calf were found killed and abandoned near Sherridon.
According to a statement released by the Manitoba Conservation Officers Association (MCOA) Oct. 11, the two moose were found near Syme Lake. The site is about 50 kilometres northeast of Flin Flon and 25 kilometers southwest of Sherridon. Investigators said the cow and calf were killed between Sept. 23 and Oct. 4 - as many as two and a half weeks before they were discovered.
“Both animals were abandoned and left to waste,” reads the statement.
Flin Flonner Marco Blackmon found the moose Oct. 8 and reported what he found to conservation officers.
Photos of the scene show the cow and calf lying near each other dead, with much of the meat and flesh having been eaten by birds and scavengers.
“We were quadding by Syme Road following some tracks when we found a pile of fur where one moose had been picked up. We saw ravens at the bush line,” said Blackmon.
“When I went to investigate, I found a cow and a calf half eaten.”
Blackmon, a hunter, said he had not seen any other moose recently, including in the area where the cow and calf were found.
“We saw no moose and anyone we spoke to didn’t see any moose. That’s very upsetting to see,” he said.
“I’ve never seen anything just shot and left like that. They would have been very difficult to get out and I’m sure that’s why they left – lazy poachers.”
The MCOA also said the investigation revealed a third moose was dragged out of the area, most likely by an ATV. Blackmon suspects the pile of fur that originally tipped him off belonged to the third moose.
“They probably gutted it. The fur pile is where they took the guts out of the third moose but the ravens ate all the guts, leaving just the fur,” he said.
Killing the cow and calf and leaving behind the carcasses violates sections the Manitoba Animal Care Act. The act states that no person who kills or injures an animal “shall fail to retrieve it or to make every reasonable effort to do so”. It also states any person who kills, injures or is in possession of a killed or injured animal cannot “abandon, waste or spoil, or allow to be abandoned, wasted or spoiled, any edible portion thereof”.
In Manitoba, most hunting tags for moose are restricted to bull moose, making the killing of a calf or cow moose an offence as well.
Anyone with information about the slaughter can call Turn in Poachers at 1-800-782-0076 or contact the Cranberry Portage district conservation office at 204-472-3331.
