Illegal elk shipment stopped in SWMO

[Rafe Hollister]

Missouri Department of Conservation announces details of intercepted elk transport bound for Barry County




Missouri conservation agents based in Southwest Missouri intercepted an uncertified interstate shipment of elk this fall, the Missouri Department of Conservation announced today.


Adam Bracken, conservation agent in Jasper County, said he was contacted by Oklahoma wildlife officials who initially learned of the shipment. He brought in Travis McLain, conservation agent in Barry County, after learning about the shipment on Sept. 26.

The Oklahoma officer informed the two conservation agents that he had stopped three stock trailers headed for a game farm in Missouri. The trailers contained five adult bull elk, three young elk bulls and two elk cows.

Bracken and McLain pulled over the trailers near Fairview on U.S. Highway 60.

?They didn?t have any of the paperwork or disease certification they needed to import them into Missouri,? Bracken said.

One of the drivers said the animals were part of a shipment of 32 elk to be delivered to a big game farm near Ridgeley, which is close to Wheaton. He also allegedly told the agents that he believed that he did not need certification since the animals would be used in what the Missouri Department of Conservation calls ?canned hunts.?

The next day the Missouri and Oklahoma departments of agriculture looked into the matter and learned that the shippers did not have the required import permits or health papers.

Based on this information, Missouri agriculture officials would not allow the elk to remain in Missouri. Oklahoma officials would not permit them to be brought back to Oklahoma. The elk?s owners decided to slaughter the animals, according to a statement from MDC.

James Greg Baker, 41, of Springdale, Ark., was the driver of one of the trucks bringing the elk to Missouri. He also is the permit holder for Hidden Spring Big Game Farm, where the animals were headed.

McLain issued Baker a citation for illegally importing wildlife into Missouri. Baker pleaded guilty in Barry County and paid a $175 fine, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation.

State officials said the concern when domestic or wild animals are imported into Missouri is disease, particularly chronic wasting disease in the deer population.

[Showme]

I believe you should have posted this in the Elk forum - not the Deer forum

[hunting170]

Slaughter them...then what? Elk meat is some good eats I tell ya.

[Rafe Hollister]

dabs said:
I believe you should have posted this in the Elk forum - not the Deer forum

I knew that would be the first comment. Thanks, Dabs.

[Warmouth]

hunting170 said:
Slaughter them...then what?

Let's just say there are some MDC agents that won't be spening much money on fresh meat at the grocery store for some time.

[Outdoorsfool]

This would have been a legal transaction had the idiot(s)checked the laws and obtained veterinarian's and transportation certificates to transport stock across state lines. Missouri is, and has been, classified as a disease-free (brucellosis)state for many years which is a BIG plus for Missouri's cattle farmers.
The owners probably had the option of putting the animals under quarantine for observation, paying for testing and veterinarian inspections of the animals to ensure they are disease-free and qualified for transportation into Missouri, yet they chose to slaughter them rather than spending the $$. Tells you a lot about how "reputable" the owner is and his canned hunt farm will be.
The meat was probably donated to Share the Harvest, but the owners might have been able to keep them also. The animals wouldn't have been confiscated by MDC (and the agents been fed) because the violation was illegal TRANSPORTATION, not illegal POSSESSION.
Not sure why MDC wrote the tickets because the majority of livestock health/transportation laws are enforced by Dept. of Agriculture's Animal Health Division.

[Warmouth]

They should have just turned them loose down by the tick farm.

[Rafe Hollister]

That would've been a great idea. That would give the bear & mountain lion something new to chase.

[Tigerhaze]

Rafe Hollister said:McLain issued Baker a citation for illegally importing wildlife into Missouri. Baker pleaded guilty in Barry County and paid a $175 fine, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation.

Doesn't seem like much of a deterrent to trying it again, although I'm sure they lost a lot of money in the value of the elk themselves.