Video: Massive Poaching Operation Unveiled in Graphic Cell Phone Videos
OutdoorHub Reporters 05.03.17
In what Washington Fish and Wildlife authorities are calling the worst poaching case in history, 10 people are under investigation for the illegal killing of more than 100 animals including bears, deer and mountain lions.
“I consider it a killing spree,” said Deputy Chief Mike Cenci of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. “I’m completely disgusted. These people are wholesale natural resource murderers.”
The investigation, which spans over years and crosses over state lines according to kptv, began when Oregon State Troopers found headless bucks on trails all over the state. So, they set up multiple trail cameras to try and catch the people responsible. Their efforts were rewarded, as they eventually caught two men connected to the headless bucks.
“Most people, when they kill an animal, there’s respect for everything. They take the hide, they take the meat and there’s something that’s respectful about it,” Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Region 5 Captain Jeff Wickersham explained.
After a search of the mens’ homes, troopers said they discovered 26 deer heads, and that was only the beginning.
Authorities also confiscated the suspects’ phones as evidence, which exposed an entire operation of poachers working together to “kill for thrill.”
“I’ve never seen anything like this, and neither have any of the officers or detectives on this case,” Wickersham said. “None of us have ever seen anything to a scale like this.”
The officers involved in this case were stunned by what they unveiled in this case, and investigators believe the group killed more than 30 bears along with dozens of deer, elk and even bobcats.
The video, obtained by Fox 12 Oregon, contains graphic images and content some might find upsetting – Viewer discretion is advised:
