Reports of wild horse deaths in Ibex Valley have emerged on social media platforms. A post on Thursday, Jan. 30, claimed that a wild stallion named Scout had been shot and harvested by poachers.
Gina Broswick, a member of the social media group, reached out to the media to emphasize the importance of the issue. She claimed that despite the Yukon Animal Protection Act, two other horses, Sundance and Storm, were also killed in the fall of 2023.
Broswick said the group invested in wildlife cameras and a drone to monitor the wild horse packs, but they did not manage to obtain any evidence to hold those accountable for the act.
The Yukon Wild Horses group had been monitoring Scout’s herd using the drone and wildlife cameras bought after the deaths of Sundance and Storm, Broswick said. She added that when Scout went missing the group put out the alert.
“We've invested in drones and several wildlife cameras since the loss of Sundance and Storm. Scout hadn't been seen on any footage or by anyone looking for him. They put out an alert and asked people to keep an eye out. The group went out searching and, at one point, spotted Mystery and the foals with the drone, but they didn't see Scout. I believe it was last Thursday when they actually found his body,” Broswick said.
Around 20 members of the Yukon Wild Horses group actively monitor the wild Yukon horse herds, Broswick said. She added that two of the members initially went out on monitoring activities, including Aud Fischer who Broswick said did most of the call to action work following the deaths of Sundance and Storm.
She told the News she had reached out to Nils Clark, Minister of Environment, and Tracy McPhee, Minister of Justice. The Yukon Conservation Officer Services responded to the incident in a social media post, directing concerns to the agriculture branch at the Yukon government’s Department of Energy, Mines and Resources.
Broswick said she felt her responses were inadequate and that she had been “fogged off” between different government departments.
“People kept saying, 'Contact the government. Contact the government.' Well, I've contacted 14 members of the government. So, yes, the agriculture branch and the Department of Environment are actively investigating,” Broswick told the News on Feb. 6.
The Yukon Conservation Officer Services social media post on February 4 mentions that the Yukon Animal Protection Act is enforced by the agriculture branch of the Yukon government’s Department of Energy, Mines and Resources.
“Animal protection and control officers are responsible for enforcing protections that apply to livestock and feral animals under the new Animal Protection and Control Act. This Act applies to all horses across the Yukon,” the social media post reads.
Contact Jake Howarth at jake.howarth@yukon-news.com
