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Asheville North Carolina
Great Smoky Mountains National Park police suspect Granville County man in elk killing
BY JON OSTENDORFF • NOVEMBER 17, 2009
CATALOOCHEE — Great Smoky Mountains National Park rangers said Monday they planned to issue charges in what would be the park's first case of elk poaching.
Rangers found bull No. 21 — known to many of the park's regular elk watchers as one of the herd's biggest breeding bulls — dead Friday along the edge of a pasture in Cataloochee Valley.
The park reintroduced 25 elk to the valley in 2001 with a $1 million project funded by the Friends of the Smokies and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.
The herd has since grown to about 100 and has become a popular park attraction, drawing hundreds of onlookers during the fall mating season.
Tips from the public led federal police to the home of a Granville County man. Someone wrote down the tag number of the man's vehicle after the shooting in Cataloochee Valley and relayed it to National Park Service rangers.
A special agent traveled to the man's home Saturday to question him, and the suspect confirmed that he had shot the elk, park spokesman Bob Miller said Monday.
The man's name was not made public because charges had not yet been filed. Miller said charges would likely come by the end of the week. He said he did not know why the elk was shot.
“The suspect was quickly identified and a strong case developed because of the willingness of members of the community to come forward and talk to rangers and state wildlife officers,” acting Chief Ranger Steve Kloster said in a statement.
Elk were once common in the Smokies and the rest of the Southern Appalachians. Hunting and habitat loss eradicated them by the early 19th century.
Two years after bringing back elk, the park saw a 50 percent increase in visitors to Cataloochee with 214,000 people.
Elk watchers line the edges of the fields with lawn chairs, cameras, binoculars and coolers to wait for the animals to emerge from the woods during the fall mating season.
Miller said the community's love of the animals broke the case in the criminal investigation.
“They really feel very personally about these elk,” he said.
The bull was taken to the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine for a necropsy. The report, which will show a cause of death, has not yet been received.
Miller said park police are discussing possible charges with the U.S. Attorney's Office.
A person convicted of poaching in a national park can face jail time and fines. A convict can also be forced to forfeit the weapon and the vehicle used in the crime.
“While the loss of one bull elk may not jeopardize the success of the park's elk program, we do see this as a very serious theft of the public's enjoyment of their national park.” Kloster said.
Asheville North Carolina
Great Smoky Mountains National Park police suspect Granville County man in elk killing
BY JON OSTENDORFF • NOVEMBER 17, 2009
CATALOOCHEE — Great Smoky Mountains National Park rangers said Monday they planned to issue charges in what would be the park's first case of elk poaching.
Rangers found bull No. 21 — known to many of the park's regular elk watchers as one of the herd's biggest breeding bulls — dead Friday along the edge of a pasture in Cataloochee Valley.
The park reintroduced 25 elk to the valley in 2001 with a $1 million project funded by the Friends of the Smokies and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.
The herd has since grown to about 100 and has become a popular park attraction, drawing hundreds of onlookers during the fall mating season.
Tips from the public led federal police to the home of a Granville County man. Someone wrote down the tag number of the man's vehicle after the shooting in Cataloochee Valley and relayed it to National Park Service rangers.
A special agent traveled to the man's home Saturday to question him, and the suspect confirmed that he had shot the elk, park spokesman Bob Miller said Monday.
The man's name was not made public because charges had not yet been filed. Miller said charges would likely come by the end of the week. He said he did not know why the elk was shot.
“The suspect was quickly identified and a strong case developed because of the willingness of members of the community to come forward and talk to rangers and state wildlife officers,” acting Chief Ranger Steve Kloster said in a statement.
Elk were once common in the Smokies and the rest of the Southern Appalachians. Hunting and habitat loss eradicated them by the early 19th century.
Two years after bringing back elk, the park saw a 50 percent increase in visitors to Cataloochee with 214,000 people.
Elk watchers line the edges of the fields with lawn chairs, cameras, binoculars and coolers to wait for the animals to emerge from the woods during the fall mating season.
Miller said the community's love of the animals broke the case in the criminal investigation.
“They really feel very personally about these elk,” he said.
The bull was taken to the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine for a necropsy. The report, which will show a cause of death, has not yet been received.
Miller said park police are discussing possible charges with the U.S. Attorney's Office.
A person convicted of poaching in a national park can face jail time and fines. A convict can also be forced to forfeit the weapon and the vehicle used in the crime.
“While the loss of one bull elk may not jeopardize the success of the park's elk program, we do see this as a very serious theft of the public's enjoyment of their national park.” Kloster said.