Two hunters who each killed and brought back a Dall sheep from the Yukon to British Columbia in 2002 without a permit got fined $7,500 each last month.
Environment Canada announced this week that B.C.‘s Scott Bradley MacKenzie and Michael Glen Makasoff received the fine on May 29. They’re also facing a five-year ban on hunting in the territory.
Environment Canada learned in 2012 about the kill from photos of the two men posing with the animals.
Investigators then flew to the Yukon to find the kill site and take pictures of it.
After comparing the incriminating photos and the investigation photos, officials determined it was the same site and got a search warrant for MacKenzie’s business, where they seized a Dall sheep shoulder mount.
MacKenzie and Makasoff’s exports contravened an international treaty governing the protection of endangered plants and animals.
The agency praised the work of a retired Environment Yukon Animal Health Coordinator, Philip Merchant, who compared the mounted sheep measurements against a database of 8,000 sheep harvested in the Yukon in the past 40 years.
The investigators also compared growth rings on the sheep’s horns.
The fines will go toward the Environmental Damages Fund, a fund administered by Environment Canada using fines and voluntary payments to finance projects for the environment.
Contact Pierre Chauvin at
pierre.chauvin@yukon-news.com