SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Feb. 24, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — Poachers racked up more than 3,600 illegal takings of protected wildlife over the past three years, Utah wildlife officials announced Friday in an anti-poaching video asking for the public’s help busting offenders.
In the video just over four minutes long, opening with an ominous backdrop of a huge stack of antlers, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources conservation officers shared the statistics: The more than 3,600 poaching cases carried a value of $1.7 million in lost wildlife.
That includes roughly 400 elk and 500 deer. Those numbers hurt hunters in reducing division biologists’ field counts of game, which cut back the number of permits the DWR can release each year, officials explained.
Conservation officers employ K-9s, drones and cameras mounted on trees to track poachers, the video notes. But people reporting poachers remains the No. 1 resource in combating perpetrators, the DWR says.
Each conservation officer, formerly called game wardens, has to patrol 2,500 square miles on average, according to the video, making public input crucial.
The DWR asks anyone with information, vehicle descriptions and license plate numbers to call its hotline for turning in poachers: 800-662-DEER (3337).
For more ways to help, visit the DWR website.
