California Department of Fish and Wildlife officers are looking for any information the public may have regarding the killing of a male Bighorn sheep (Ram).
Posted Jun. 16, 2016
YREKA
California Department of Fish and Wildlife officers are looking for any information the public may have regarding the killing of a male Bighorn sheep (Ram). The carcass of the Ram was discovered and reported to CDFW by a citizen on June 12. The head and horns were removed from the Ram and the remaining portion of the carcass was left along the side of Copco Road at Iron Gate Lake near the Jenny Creek camping area, just out of sight of passing vehicles, stated a press release from CDFW. It is always unlawful to remove and possess parts of wildlife that were not legally harvested.
Bighorn sheep are extremely rare in Northern California. The Ram is believed to be from a small group of Bighorn sheep that were planted in the upper Klamath River canyon by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife in late 2014.
Anyone with information about the incident is encouraged to contact CDFW at one of the following: Call Warden Monty Cervelli, the lead investigator in the case, at (530) 598-5323; call “CalTIP,” CDFW’s confidential secret witness program, at (888) 334-2258; or send a text to tip411. Any of these options allow the public to provide wildlife officers with factual information to assist in this investigation.
For more information on the CalTIP program or to download the CalTIP app, visit
www.wildlife.ca.gov/enforcement/caltip.
They had a herd they tried to establish in Modoc near the lava beds outside of Tule Lake way back when. Several of those were poached, I remember the outrage over it even back then. I think they got disease some time later and died off. I had seen them several times, pretty cool.
At this point, we don't know if this ram was even in CA when some jackazz shot him. He may well have been killed in Oregon and his body then dumped in CA.
That the horns and the head were taken leads me to believe the jackazz who shot him plans to have a taxidermist do a shoulder mount.
If I'm right, then said jackazz will be caught, fined, and then, if it was my call, hung by the neck until dead.
