OSP investigation rash of poachings in Baker County

Published 6:20 am Wednesday, December 6, 2023

BAKER CITY — The Oregon State Police Fish & Wildlife Division is seeking the public’s help as troopers investigate a recent rash of wildlife poachings in Baker County that include a wolf, a bighorn sheep ram and two black bear cubs.

It’s not clear whether the three incidents, in different locations but all east of Baker City, are connected.

Police are not releasing many details about the cases, all of which started in late November.

“We are hoping a community member is able to come forward with more information,” OSP Capt. Kyle Kennedy said.

Wolf

On Nov. 27, fish and wildlife troopers responded to a report of a wolf that had been shot and killed near Sparta Road, in the Keating unit about 25 miles east of Baker City.

Kennedy declined to say whether police had other information, such as the caliber of gun the poacher used.

The wolf was a 4-year-old female and part of the Cornucopia group, said Brian Ratliff, district wildlife biologist at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Baker City office. That group no longer is considered a pack as it lacks a breeding pair.

Ratliff said the wolf that was killed was captured Oct. 24, 2020, and fitted with a GPS tracking collar. He said the wolf recently had been staying in an area north of Pine Valley, north of Halfway.

The collar sent a “mortality signal,” as it’s designed to do if the collar is stationary for an extended period, and ODFW reported to OSP that the wolf might be dead. The mortality signal was the first record that the wolf had moved west to the Sparta Road area, which is more than 10 miles southwest of Pine Valley.

Ratliff said the wolf left unique tracks in snow, as it had a wounded rear leg that it didn’t put weight on while walking. The injury didn’t seem to affect the wolf’s ability to run, though, said Ratliff, who has watched the wolf from an aircraft.

The Cornucopia group of wolves, which consists of fewer than five animals, hasn’t been implicated in any livestock depredations for at least the past year, according to ODFW reports.

The Cornucopia Pack, when it still included a breeding pair, killed at least one calf and injured several others during the spring of 2022 in the north end of Eagle Valley north of Richland.

Bighorn sheep ram

OSP is also investigating the unlawful killing and waste of a bighorn sheep ram in the Lookout Mountain unit about 50 miles east of Baker City. On Nov. 30, Trooper Dakotah Keys responded to a report of a ram that had been shot and left to waste on BLM land near Hibbard Creek Road, about 14 miles north of Huntington and several miles west of Brownlee Reservoir. The involved person(s) removed the ram’s head and horns before leaving all the meat to waste.

The herd of Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep in the Lookout Mountain area, which several years ago numbered around 400 animals and was Oregon’s largest, has suffered over the past three years from the effects of a bacterial infection that can lead to fatal pneumonia in sheep.

ODFW estimates the current population at about 280.

The state has not allowed hunting of bighorns in the Lookout Mountain unit since 2019.

Duane Dungannon, editor of Oregon Hunter magazine, lamented the loss of the ram.

“I’ve personally viewed and photographed bighorns in the Lookout Mountain unit, but that’s all, because in 35 years of applying, I’ve never drawn a once-in-a-lifetime bighorn tag, and probably never will,” Dungannon said. “For someone to steal one of these mountain monarchs is truly a heinous crime against all those who dream of a chance to pursue them legally someday, as well as those who just count themselves fortunate to see them.”

Bear cubs

On Nov. 27 a hunter found a dead bear cub just off Forest Road 77 about 3.5 miles northwest of Halfway. OSP troopers searched and found two bear cubs that had been shot and left to waste.

Kennedy declined to say whether troopers have estimated the age of the cubs, or found any evidence that a mother bear was in the area. He said troopers continue to investigate the case.

Anyone with information regarding either the wolf or bighorn sheep case is urged to contact Keys through the Turn in Poachers (TIP) hotline at 1-800-452-7888 or dial *OSP (mobile).

Anyone with information regarding the bear cubs investigation is asked to contact OSP Sgt. Isaac Cyr through the Turn in Poachers (TIP) hotline at 1-800-442-2068 or dial *OSP (mobile) and reference case number SP23377486. TIPs received can remain anonymous.

OSP, the Oregon Hunters Association and the Oregon Wildlife Coalition offer cash and other rewards, including preference points that give hunters a better chance of drawing a coveted big game tag, for information that leads to an arrest in a poaching case. Tipsters can request anonymity.

Bighorn sheep and wolves fetch the biggest potential rewards with five preference points (four for bear).

Cash payments range from $11,500 for a wolf (Oregon Wildlife Coalition) to $2,000 for a bighorn and $600 for a bear or wolf (Oregon Hunters Association).