Bull Elk Resting / Pixabay

Rocky Mountain National Park is offering up to a $2,000 reward for information regarding elk poaching incidents that occurred in the park in September of 2018. In order to be eligible for a reward, the information must be relevant and lead to an arrest or criminal conviction.    

On Wednesday morning September 12, park rangers discovered a large bull elk had been shot alongside Trail Ridge Road near Milner Pass. This occurred during the night of Tuesday, September 11, or early morning September 12. The bull’s head had been severed and the carcass remained.

On the morning of September 22, park visitors reported a dead bull elk next to Trail Ridge Road, near the Ute Crossing Trail south of Forest Canyon Overlook in Rocky Mountain National Park. Park rangers investigated and discovered the large bull elk had been shot during the night of Friday, September 21, or early morning Saturday, September 22.

Rocky Mountain National Park’s wildlife is a resource for all visitors to enjoy viewing and appreciate. The individual(s) who assisted or carried out these poaching incidents robbed future park visitors of this experience. 

Park Rangers at Rocky Mountain National Park and Special Agents with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service urge anyone with information on these incidents or other incidents of wildlife poaching in the park to call the National Park Service Investigative Services Bureau at 888-653-0009, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement at 1-720-981-2777, or call Operation Game Thief at 1-800-332-4155.