Alaska News

An Alaska reward for info on illegal moose kill: $500 and an ounce of gold

The Alaska State Troopers on Tuesday asked for help or information identifying whomever is responsible for an illegal moose kill by the remote Alaska community of Ferry, near Healy in the Alaska interior.

As a reward for help finding the party responsible for wanton waste, troopers (helped by a local miner) are offering a uniquely Alaskan reward: $500 and an ounce of gold.

The moose, which was located near the little community north of Denali National Park, was discovered in September by a hunter who reported it to Wildlife Troopers in Cantwell. The moose was killed in Game Management Unit 20A but taken about six miles up the Ferry trail into a burned forest area, troopers said.

To aid in identifying the animal, troopers said the moose had 45-inch antlers with two brow tines on one side and three on the other, which is legal for hunters with a bull hunting tag but not a normal harvest ticket. Because the animal was abandoned, troopers assumed the people who killed it didn't have a tag.

The $500, while nothing to scoff at, is bolstered by the ounce of gold incentive. Price for an ounce of gold at market close on Tuesday? $1,598, according to goldprice.org, bringing the total value of the reward to more than $2,000.

Anyone with information is asked to call Alaska Fish and Wildlife Safeguard hotline at 1-800-478-3377 or call Trooper Jim Ellison in Cantwell at 907-768-4050. Reference case No. 11-90147. Tips can be left anonymously.

Craig Medred

Craig Medred is a former writer for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2015.

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