Hunters killed one of the last mountain caribou in Gaspésie in mid-October, an “illegal slaughter” which the Quebec Wildlife Protection (PFQ) is investigating.
The slaughtered caribou, which wore a telemetry collar, was one of six females captured and penned last spring, the Ministry of the Environment, the Fight against Climate Change and Wildlife said in a statement on Monday. and Parks, to which the PFQ reports.
She was released at the end of August.
Suspects “were encountered” by wildlife protection agents on October 18, indicates the PFQ, adding that the agents had previously gone to the scene where the animal was killed accompanied by a dog handler. and a drone to “start the investigation”, which is still ongoing.
No additional information will be provided, says the PFQ.
The Gaspésie mountain caribou has been an “endangered” species since 2003 in Canada and designated “threatened” in Quebec since 2009.
Its population was estimated at 34 individuals in the most recent inventory, carried out in 2021.
Quebec had difficulty capturing six of the 15 females of the herd in March and April to place them in an enclosure in order to protect them from predators during the calving period, but the only two fawns that were born in the spring died shortly after. time later, just like one of the mothers.