ENR seeking information on wasted caribou in Aklavik

The Northwest Territories government is asking the public for information about a recent case of wasted caribou in Aklavik. 

In a Facebook post on Thursday, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources shared a photo of wasted caribou that it says was spotted on Pump Lake on April 23.

“It’s not OK to abandon big game – whether it’s spoiled or not,” the post reads. “When meat gets left outside a landfill, it can attract other wildlife, which could be dangerous to your community.”

In a Facebook post addressing the incident, Ken Kyikavichik, the Grand Chief of the Gwich’in Tribal Council, said “irresponsible harvesters” should be reported.

“Unfortunately this is not just limited to Aklavik. We have meat and caribou heads showing up in other community landfills,” he wrote. “What a shameful display.”

Environment and Natural Resources is asking anyone with information about the incident to contact their regional office.

This is not the first case of wasted caribou reported in Aklavik this year.

In February, Environment and Natural Resources reported that wildlife officers had found a freshly harvested caribou abandoned in the Aklavik Foothills.

“That could have fed people – and it’s not OK it was left behind,” the department stated at the time.

Under the territory’s Wildlife Act, it is illegal to abandon the edible parts or raw hides of wildlife, along with leaving food waste on land if it is likely to attract big game that could endanger people or domesticated animals.