Wildlife officers investigating meat wastage at Yukon/N.W.T. border

Yukon conservation officers are investigating after several caribou were shot and abandoned off the Dempster Highway near the Northwest Territories border.

Officer Shawn Hughes says they're investigating two separate incidents involving the Porcupine Caribou herd, which is migrating in northern Yukon, where the meat was completely wasted.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, on the Mountain Road just outside of Old Crow, a caribou and her calf were found shot and abandoned, with no effort made to recover the meat.

Hughes says a few days later, four bull caribou were found killed a few kilometres from the N.W.T. border.

"I think it's an issue that comes with abundance," Hughes says.

Conservation officers believe up to 12 caribou have been similarly shot and abandoned in the area.

"Right now we've got a lot of caribou that came through, first through Old Crow and now they've moved... and they're showing up on the Dempster Highway."

Hughes says several angry hunters reported the incidents to conservation officers. Now, they're appealing to the public for help.

"We're putting some posters out and trying to get some attention about the issue through the media, and hoping we get some information."

Hughes says the only way they'll find the people responsible is if hunters who saw the incidents report it.

"There's a lot of harvesting, a lot of hunters [were] out in both of those cases."