The Brief
The Arizona Game and Fish Department needs help figuring out who shot several animals and left them for dead near Big Lake in the White Mountains.
The poaching incidents happened on July 20 and July 27 at night.
The department is offering up to a $25,000 reward for information leading to arrests.
The Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) is looking for suspects in separate poaching incidents near Big Lake in the White Mountains.
It's offering up to a $25,000 reward for information that leads to arrests.
Timeline
On July 20, AZGFD said three cow elk were found shot and "left to waste" near Forest Roads 249E and 24. Investigators believe it happened around 8:15 p.m. that day.
Then on July 27, four more elk, three cows and a bull, were found shot dead near "State Routes 273 and 261 near the turnoff to the campground at Big Lake." That incident likely happened around 9:30 p.m.
"In addition, two bighorn sheep rams were discovered shot and left to waste that same day. The animals were found along Forest Road 249 near Three Forks," AZGFD said.
The department calls the deaths "despicable" and is asking anyone with information on these cases to come forward.
Why you should care
"This incident is the definition of poaching. Poachers are thieves who steal Arizona’s most precious natural resource. Not only did they kill six cow elk, but these poachers killed the future offspring that the elk would have produced," AZGFD said.
What you can do
Anyone with information about these poaching incidents can call AZGFD’s Operation Game Thief hotline at 1-800-352-0700 and refer to case #25-002276.
"Callers can remain anonymous upon request and may be eligible for a reward up to $25,000 for information that leads to an arrest in this case through the Operation Game Thief program, the Arizona Elk Society, and the Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society," the department said.
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