DWR wants the public to help fight poaching

Utah Division of Wildlife Resources are tightening up their efforts on finding and prosecuting poachers.

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is alarmed about the numbers of poached animals they have found since the end of summer and beginning of fall.

A file photo of a moose killed illegally. Utah Division of Wildlife Resources was searching for information concerning the poaching incident in Rich County.

Division of Wildlife Resources officer Lt. Chad Bettridge is asking the public and hunters to be vigilant report poaching and other violations when they see it.
From Aug. 1 to Sept. 23 conservation officers had contacted roughly 13,700 individuals and inspected the hunting licenses of 4,347 people. Officers found 319 animals killed illegally including fish, furbearing species and waterfowl. They also found 39 big game animals that had been poached.

Officers issued 569 citations and received 249 tips while the investigation took place, and they will continue to look for other violations as the season progresses. Violators will be turned over to the court system.

With several hunts underway and Utah’s general-season deer hunt to begin on Oct. 22, all 53 DWR conservation officers will be hard at work making sure hunters obey the laws and protect the wildlife. As hard as DWR officers are out trying to find people breaking the law they can’t be everywhere.

“Please keep your eyes and ears open and report suspicious activity to us. Working together, we can enforce wildlife laws, which help with wildlife,” he said. “Hunters need to take the responsibility of knowing the law, having a current hunting or combination license and knowing what species and areas their permits allow them to hunt before they go out into the field.”

Tips are incredibly valuable in helping them investigate poaching cases.

While wildlife violations can happen any time of the year, a spike typically occurs during the fall hunting seasons. If you’d like to help in the fight against illegal hunting in Utah, here’s what you should do:

  • Get a license plate number, a description of the vehicle and people is important.

If you see someone who is potentially breaking Utah’s wildlife laws, getting a license plate number is the most critical piece of information you can provide to conservation officers. If you’re not able to get a license plate number, provide the officer with as much information as you can.

“Having a license plate number will lead us to the individual, so we can interview the person and start investigating,” Bettridge said. “Other helpful details include the type and color of the vehicle the person was driving, how many people were involved and a description of what you saw.”

  • If you can give them a GPS coordinate, that can guide us quickly to the area where the possible violation occurred, he added.

“If you have a license plate number but can’t get cell reception, it’s totally fine to wait and report the incident when you get better cell service,” Bettridge said. “A license plate number gives us a great starting point for our investigation.”

  • Don’t confront someone who might be committing a violation, just observe from a distance and take note of as many details as you can.

“We don’t want anyone to be put in harm’s way or to be in a situation that makes them uncomfortable,” he said. “Report what you saw and let us contact them.”

  • While reporting a wildlife violation in a Facebook message will eventually get to a conservation officer, it is much more efficient and effective to use the proper channels. Here are the various ways you can report illegal wildlife activities:
  • Call the Utah Turn-in-a-Poacher hotline at 1-800-662-3337. (The UTiP hotline is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week and is the quickest way to report a wildlife violation. The number is printed on your hunting and fishing licenses.)
  • Use the UTDWR Law Enforcement app or text officers at 847411 or report it to the online through the DWR website.

The UTDWR law enforcement app was launched in March 2021. So far this year, conservation officers have received 363 tips through the app.

Use the UTiP line only to report wildlife crimes. If you’re simply looking for information, call the nearest DWR office.

  • Another option is to call the nearest local police dispatch.

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1 Comment

  • KA October 6, 2022 at 6:27 am Reply

    What kind of human garbage kills something just to kill it? How small of a person are you?

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