Bighorn killed by poacher

Wardens in Banff National Park are trying to determine how poachers managed to kill a valuable bighorn sheep near a popular part of the park.

They're hoping has information that will help track down the poachers who killed the adult ram near Lake Minnewanka last week.

Wardens suspected a ram had been shot when they found a patch of bloody snow near an oft-used road.

DNA testing confirmed that, determining the ram was likely between eight and 10 years old.

The animal would probably fetch thousands of dollars on the black market as a hunting trophy.

"Animals are poached in the Banff National Park every year," Doug Martin, a specialist on law enforcement in national parks, said. "Those are the ones that we come across and find, but there are very few park wardens in comparison to the size and vastness of Banff National Park, or other mountain parks."

T.J. Schwanky, who hunts bighorns and writes a columnist for Alberta Outdoorsman, says the provincial and federal governments need to better protect wildlife in the province.

"Our enforcement has just been hacked to death here. There's no budget left, our officers can't get out in the field," he said. "You know they want to do the job, they just don't have the budget to do it."

The maximum fine for poaching bighorns is $250,000 and five years in prison.

Hunters with the proper licence are allowed to hunt bighorns on Crown land from late August to Oct. 31.

Hunters kill about 130 to 150 of the animals each hunting season.