The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has canceled five subsistence hunt permits for musk ox in Northwest Alaska after the discovery of the carcasses of five illegally killed musk ox cows, reports The Arctic Sounder.
The illegal harvest was discovered during a February fly-over of the area, said ADF&G biologist Jim Dau of Kotzebue.
"One of the planes found what they thought were a couple of dead musk ox," Dau said. Alaska State Troopers were notified, and Wildlife Trooper Justin McGinnis flew to the site to find five dead musk ox cows.
"He was certain they had been shot and left," Dau said. "When the trooper got up there and found five cows that were dead, we thought, we've already taken more than we wanted to take."
The Tier II harvest allows five bulls to be taken for subsistence use, not cows.
Read more at The Arctic Sounder: Musk ox hunt canceled after illegal harvest
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