Three Roosevelt elk carcasses were discovered near Cowichan Lake on Dec. 10, and the BC Conservation Officer Service is investigating to determine if they were illegally poached.
Two were found south of the lake and one was discovered on the west side.
It’s believed the elk were recently killed before they were found.
A spokesman for COS said anyone with information on the dead elk is asked to call the Report all Poachers and Polluters (RAPP) line at 1-877-952-7277.
Vancouver Island is home to one of the only pure strains of Roosevelt elk in the world, with many living in the Cowichan Lake and South Island area, and there has been no shortage of poaching cases over the years.
RELATED STORY: MAN FINED $5,100 FOR POACHING ROOSEVELT ELK NEAR CHEMAINUS
Just last October, a man was fined $5,100 for unlawfully harvesting a Roosevelt elk near Chemainus in 2019, and was also issued a two-year hunting ban.
The year 2020 saw an unusually high number of elk poached on the south Island, with many of them in the Lake Cowichan area, with 15 illegally killed in a single month.
There was no legal elk hunt for 30 years on Vancouver Island until 2012 when the elk numbers allowed a limited-entry one, but conservation officials have said the legal hunting of elk could be stopped if poaching continues and the elk populations are impacted.
There is no general open season for elk hunting on Vancouver Island, but tags are available each year to harvest a limited number of them legally after their main rutting period in mid-October.