Three bighorn sheep were shot and killed illegally about 25 miles south of Lake City, the third high-profile poaching case in southwestern Colorado this month, state wildlife officers said.
Two ewes and a lamb had been shot out of season with high-powered rifles on Nov. 15 or 16 and left to rot, Division of Wildlife spokesman Joe Lewandowski said.
“Bighorn sheep, while they’re our state animal, they don’t reproduce like deer and elk do,” Lewandowski said. “The herds are always in kind of a tentative state. To lose two females obviously can hurt a herd.” Lewandowski said only a handful of bighorn sheep hunting licenses are issued each year, and most hunters want the rams with their impressive curled horns, not ewes.
Two threatened lynx were killed in separate incidents on the first two days of the month.
One was killed near Silverton and one near Durango Mountain ski area.
State and private agencies have offered a combined $7,500 reward for information about the killings.
The Division of Wildlife’s hot line for tips about poachers is (877) 265-6648.
