Wildlife agents investigate 'shocking' death of endangered Gaspé caribou

Wildlife agents in Quebec's Gaspé region are investigating the death of an endangered caribou who was found eviscerated.

A hunter discovered the caribou in the Gaspésie provincial park, about 30 km south of Sainte-Anne-des-Monts on Oct. 26 and reported it to the local wildlife office.

The animal's skin and antlers were in place, but its organs and innards had been removed.

"We were shocked. We're trying to understand why this animal was slaughtered, eviscerated and abandoned," Paul Montpetit, a lieutenant with the provincial wildlife protection office in New Richmond, told CBC News.

Dwindling herd

The animal, a woodland caribou of the mountain ecotype, is part of a small herd that roams the park.  

According to the federal government's Species at Risk Public Registry, the isolated population in the park had up to 1000 head of caribou in the 1950's, with a steady decline over decades. 

In 2007, there were about 250. Montpetit estimated today there are only 75 caribou left.

He said every caribou counts.

"It's very serious. If the numbers continue to decline and decline and decline, we could find ourselves with no more of this species in the area," Montpetit said.

The province classifies the species as threatened and the federal government classifies it as endangered. It's forbidden to harm the animals or damage their habitat.

$20,000 fine

Montpetit said people found to have killed vulnerable animals can be fined up to $20,000 for a first offence.

He said investigators are unsure of the motive for the killing, but that local hunters are generally respectful of vulnerable species and follow the rules.

"We're certain that someone somewhere heard or saw something, and we'd like to have this information," Montpetit said.

He's asking anyone with information to contact the ministry's anonymous poaching tip line at 1-800-463-2191.