Dispatch: Bighorn Sheep Killers

In its Wildlife News newsletter for Oct. 24, the Arizona Game and Fish Department announced that it's looking for information about two recent Bighorn poaching incidents in Arizona.

On Oct. 10, some jackass killed a Rocky Mountain bighorn ram in the Three Forks area of Unit 1, west of Alpine, in eastern Arizona.

"The poacher killed an eight-year-old ram feeding on a slope above Forest Road 249 and left it to waste," says Bruce Sitko, public information officer for the Arizona Game and Fish Pinetop office.

Also, Game and Fish biologists believe that sometime during the last week of August a poacher killed a bighorn ram near Lake Havasu City. The dead bighorn was found in Craggy Wash, a popular camping area north of the city.

"If you were in the area recently, try to remember anything out of the ordinary you may have seen or heard that can help us find the person or persons responsible for this illegal act," said Curtis Herbert, wildlife manager for the department. "Poachers who commit these acts not only take the life of one of Arizona's premier wildlife species, they steal from the residents of Arizona."

To report information on this incident, or any Game and Fish violation, call the department's Operation Game Thief hotline at (800) 352-0700. Caller identities may remain confidential upon request. Callers are eligible to receive a reward for information leading to the conviction of the violator in this bighorn poaching case of up to $2,000 from the department, with an additional $1,000 being provided by the Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society.