Caribou innards seen on video played at Innu hunting trial
Video evidence was presented in court Wednesday in the trial for 10 men from Sheshatshiu accused of illegally hunting the George River caribou herd.
The alleged illegal hunt happened less than two months after the Newfoundland and Labrador government put a hunting ban in place in 2013.
The hunters are charged with unlawfully possessing big game, obstructing or resisting a wildlife officer and failure to comply with big game licence requirements.
In Happy Valley-Goose Bay court Wednesday, Fish and Wildlife Supt. Gary O'Brien described several videos taken by officers at the scene.
O'Brien testified that the video, which was shown to the court, displayed the innards of 30 or 40 caribou left in the woods at Shipiskan Lake.
Another video showed dead caribou left on the ice, not far from a cabin.
The court was told that O'Brien asked the investigating wildlife officer to provide the names of the people in the alleged hunt, which was accomplished using photos taken during the investigation.
O'Brien testified the names of the suspected hunters were sent to local RCMP to request photographs, dates of birth and addresses to help identify who they were.
All the names of the 10 hunters accused are included on that list.
While the defence questioned O'Brien's involvement in identifying the suspects in the alleged hunt, O'Brien replied it was the responsibility of the investigating officer.
Charter company Wilderness North Air was charged in the incident with unlawfully possessing big game. The company pleaded guilty and paid a $1,000 fine.
With files from John Gaudi