In the wake significant caribou wastage late last month along the Tibbitt to Contwoyto winter road, there is another instance of what appears to be wastage related to ptarmigan.
Yellowknife resident Brad Olson shared a social media post earlier this month showing what appears to be almost two dozen of the birds killed and left to rot.
“Twenty-plus ptarmigan with the heads cut off. Wings ripped off but no meat taken off most of them,” Olson’s post read.
Yellowknifer contacted the Department of Environment and Climate Change to get more information about what happened and what action, if any, has been taken.
“The department received reports from third parties regarding suspected ptarmigan wastage near Yellowknife. Despite thorough investigation by officers, the case remains inconclusive,” said Tania Oosting, public affairs and communications manager with the department.
She added that wastage is a violation of section 54(a) of the Wildlife Act and that the public is urged to report any information related to wastage or other wildlife violations to the toll-free line 1-866-762-2437, which operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. All information provided would be passed on to a renewable resource officer.
To prevent such incidents in the future, Oosting said that the officers are working regularly with harvesters and guardian programs to encourage respectful and legal harvesting across the region.
Oosting added that wastage is an unfortunate act as wasted meat could be put to good use and feed others.