Alaska investigators find caribou slaughter

McClatchy newspapers guardian.co.uk,
Tuesday July 29 2008

Investigators arriving at the scene found 120 caribou carcasses scattered along a 40-mile trail (64 kilometres) about 25 miles east of Point Hope, Alaska, prompting them to call the killings "by far the worst case of blatant waste" they have ever seen, according to a trooper representative.

The meat from at least 60 animals had been either partially wasted or not even touched, troopers said. Most still had their developing antlers intact. Calves were left stranded, some still trying to suckle milk from the decomposing cows two weeks after the slaughter.

Troopers have so far identified five suspects and think there could be many more, but the investigation has been stymied by an apparent lack of cooperation from village officials, troopers spokeswoman Beth Ipsen said.

"In a community that size, it's hard to not know what's going on, but they refused to come forward with that information," Ipsen said. "We wish we had more cooperation from the community, and it's disappointing."

At a meeting between troopers and elders last week, investigators showed elders photos of the bulls, cows and cows with calves that had been left to waste as they explained why they were there and appealed for cooperation, Ipsen said.

"Even the elders were pretty stunned by this much waste," she said. "When we had a community meeting and showed them the photos, the room went silent."

But when investigators returned on Sunday evening, no names had surfaced.

All of the suspects have been identified because of troopers' police work, she said. The suspects, who range in age from 17 to 25, have not yet been charged because the cases were being forwarded to the district attorney's office for review.

Officials in Point Hope could not be reached for comment on Monday.

Last week, as news of the slaughter began to leak out, Point Hope Mayor Steve Oomittuk said in an interview that the town would not tolerate the killings and that it was contrary to the villagers' subsistence lifestyle. He said the town was committed to finding out who was responsible.

Point Hope is an Inupiat Eskimo village of 700 people 330 miles southwest of Barrow, an area considered one of the longest continuously occupied in Alaska.

Like other area Bush communities, the village relies heavily on the 377,000-strong western Arctic caribou herd, which passed through an area about 25 miles to its east at the beginning of the month, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

The killings took place July 4-8 - during the open hunting season when residents are allowed five caribou per day, Ipsen said.

Troopers in Kotzebue didn't get the report of the mass killings until July 16, and three investigators arrived in the village three days later to begin combing the area by helicopter and all-terrain vehicle, she said.

It was clear that multiple hunting parties were involved and they were from the area - there is no indication air taxis or other transporters were in the field at the time, she said.

In the end, investigators were able to confirm at least 60 of the 120 caribou had been wasted.

"There could have been more," Ipsen said. "The other ones were so heavily scavenged and eaten that we couldn't tell."

A motive for the killings remains unclear.

This article was first published on guardian.co.uk on Tuesday July 29 2008. It was last updated at 17:54 on July 29 2008.

Funny they sit silent as a mime when a bunch of thier own did it but they would scream and wail away all day if an outsider wasted a single animal. I don't condone wasting meat, just a more balanaced and fair application of justice. That was wrong and they should be punished.

Let's see here. They get "subsistance" but most of us don't. They can hunt on "their land" but if most of us want to hunt "their land" we either can't or get charged exhorbitant "fees". The way I see it, we're all "equal" - it's just that some are more "equal" than others. JMHO tho. Bear in Fairbanks

I used to be a cop in Barrow, I am trying to think of a good word to describe how I feel about Alaska natives.

No matter how much you try to like them as a group, they will do whatever they can to piss you off.

I arrested this native woman every other night for a week for public nussance. She was drunk, 5 months pregnant, and had about 4 lines of cocaine in her each time. Eventually she broke enough of our state and local statues to get a free ride to the big jail in Fairbanks.

The big problem is the stupid and super PC judges in the bush is they handle eskimos with kit gloves.

I saw a video of norwhale hunters in northern Quebec shooting whales. The village had taken what they needed then a 17 year old kid went out and killed another 30 with a SMLE 303. No one wanted to stop him as they were afriad he wouldn't hunt again.

What kind of bullshit is that?

I don't have anything to add to the previous responses, everything was pretty well said.
This wanton destruction is dispicable and should be severely punished I have my doubts that it will be because it sounds like natives are involved.
Back to the top with this for all to see.

quote:

It was on the raido today, some one spilled the beans Very Happy

Guess when the FnG trooper started taking meat samples with a warrent (DNA testing?) out came the long pointy fingers.

These guys, whatever their names are, will never hunt again, according to Point Hope elders and the trooper reporting, if they have any way with the outcome.

Might add that todays Arctic Sounder, our local news paper had a front page picture of that calf suclking from it's dead mom.... Shamefull, disrespectfull and downright WRONG.
Makes ya want to puke in disgust!

I copied this from another forum from a friend that lives close.

Rad