{"id":20299,"date":"2025-08-05T16:04:35","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T23:04:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/?p=20299"},"modified":"2025-08-07T11:36:19","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T18:36:19","slug":"information-sought-in-elk-bighorn-poachings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/2025\/08\/05\/information-sought-in-elk-bighorn-poachings\/","title":{"rendered":"Poaching case reward  increases to $25,000"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>NEWS RELEASE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aug. 6, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>EAGAR, Ariz. \u2014 The Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) is seeking information about two separate poaching incidents in Game Management Unit 1 near Big Lake in the White Mountains.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>July 20<\/strong>: Three cow elk were discovered shot and left to waste near the intersection of Forest Roads 249E and 24. AZGFD officials believe the incident took place around 8:15 p.m.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>July 27<\/strong>: Four more elk \u2014 three cows and one bull \u2014 were discovered shot and left to waste off State Routes 273 and 261 near the turnoff to the campground at Big Lake. AZGFD officials believe the incident took place around 9:30 p.m. In addition, two bighorn sheep rams were discovered shot and left to waste that same day. The animals were found along Forest Road 249 near Three Forks, Ariz.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf anyone has information regarding these despicable acts, please report it,\u201d said Kalyn Miller, wildlife manager. \u201cThis incident is the definition of poaching. Poachers are thieves who steal Arizona\u2019s most precious natural resource. Not only did they kill six cow elk, but these poachers killed the future offspring that the elk would have produced.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyone with information about this case can call AZGFD\u2019s Operation Game Thief hotline at 1-800-352-0700 and refer to case #25-002272.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Callers can remain anonymous upon request and may be eligible for a reward up to $25,000 for information that leads to an arrest in this case through the Operation Game Thief program,&nbsp; Arizona Elk Society, Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society, and Wild Sheep Foundation.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The seven elk and two bighorn sheep rams were discovered near Big Lake in the White Mountains. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":7158,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[92],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-main-site"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Poaching case reward increases to $25,000 - Arizona Game &amp; 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