Officers find caribou ribs illegally dumped at Inuvik landfill
Meat would have come from Porcupine caribou herd, which recently made its way past the Dempster Highway
Renewable resource officers found about 2.2 kilograms of caribou ribs illegally dumped at the landfill in Inuvik, N.W.T., on Thursday.
Norman Snowshoe, Environment and Natural Resources superintendent for the Beaufort Delta region, said it is illegal to dispose of and waste wild meat in this way, under the N.W.T. Wildlife Act.
Snowshoe said meat would have come from the Porcupine caribou herd, which recently made its way past the Dempster Highway.
Gwich'in Tribal Council Grand Chief Bobbie Jo Greenland-Morgan says leadership in the area is asking people to wait before hunting the returning caribou herd. That's because vigorous hunting could deter it from following the same path in the future.
She also says elders have asked hunters to allow the leaders of the herd to pass first, so the remainder can follow along their migration route.
"Even though we're asking them to wait a little bit longer, I do recognize that they are exercising their Aboriginal right to hunt and exercising your rights a good thing," said Greenland-Morgan.
"But I'd like hunters to also just take a moment to reflect and think back on those rights."
The investigation into the caribou meat wastage is still ongoing and anyone with information on the incident is asked to contact the Department of Environment's Inuvik Regional office at 1-867-678-6650 or the Report-a-Poacher line at 1-866-762-2437.