Stephanie McDonald
Northern News Services
Published Monday, January 7, 2008

CAMBRIDGE BAY - A Cambridge Bay man has been charged under the Wildlife Act for killing six muskoxen in June of 2006 and leaving them to rot.

The 24-year-old hunter has been charged by the Government of Nunavut's Department of Environment for wastage, hunting out of season and hunting without a tag.

Muskoxen graze on the shores of Ekaloktotiak Lake this past summer. Six animals were shot and left to rot outside of Cambridge Bay in June 2006. A 24-year-old man has been charged. He's scheduled to appear in court today (Jan. 7). - Picture by Keith Peterson.

The charges were laid in October 2007. The hunter is scheduled to appear in court in Cambridge Bay today (Jan. 7).

After six muskoxen, including four adults, one two-year-old and one calf, were reported slaughtered in the Augustus Hills several kilometres west of the community, an investigation was conducted.

The carnage was reported to Cambridge Bay conservation officer Shane Sather on June 15, 2006.

Interviews were conducted and a scenario as to what happened was pieced together, said Steve Pinksen, director of policy, planning and legislation with the Department of Environment. Evidence was sent south for forensic testing to match the casings, found at the site, to a rifle.

"We hope that the individual involved would understand and obtain a good understanding that going out and shooting animals and leaving them behind is not just illegal, it's unacceptable," Pinksen said.

There are plenty of people in the territory who would want to eat fresh food, he said.

By the time the muskoxen were found outside of Cambridge Bay, they had been dead for a day or two and the meat was no longer salvageable. Cases of wasted meat are rare and to connect the crime to a culprit is even more rare, Pinksen said.

"Often all you're left with is a dead animal and no tracks and no evidence and no witnesses," he said.

Chairperson of the Nunavut Wildlife Board, Joe Tigullaraq, did not want to comment on the individual case as the organization doesn't deal with enforcement issues. He did say that such wastage of good meat goes against Inuit values.

"Inuit traditionally did not waste any meat at all. Wastage of meat was viewed to be unacceptable," Tigullaraq said.

When the incident was originally reported, Jacques Larabie, manager of the hunters and trappers organization in Cambridge Bay, suggested that hunting workshops were needed to ensure proper skills and principles were passed on.

Tigullaraq said it is ultimately up to harvesters to pass on ethical hunting skills to their relatives.