News Releases

Media Bulletin - Manitoba

December 12, 2020

Manitoba Conservation and Climate Enforcement Update

– – –
Continued Enforcement Against Illegal Hunting

Manitoba Conservation and Climate advises that conservation officers are continuing enforcement against illegal night hunting and illegal hunting in moose conservation closure areas. In the early evening of Dec. 11, conservation officers from the Gypsumville area spotted a vehicle driving off road on a decommissioned rail bed in the RM of Grahamdale.
 
Officers watched as the vehicle stopped and a single light was used to slowly sweep across the fields. The vehicle moved slowly around the area, looping back around the field before heading back down the rail bed, still shining a light back and forth across the fields. When the vehicle came back onto a nearby road, officers determined it was an off-road, side-by-side ATV and they pulled it over.  A 43-year-old male from the Fairford area and 48-year-old female from Pinaymootang First Nation were arrested, and issued appearance notices for hunting at night when not permitted. A 2015 Polaris Ranger, as well as two loaded rifles, a spotlight and various other hunting equipment was seized. One of the firearms was found to be stolen, so RCMP attended and took custody of the two individuals for other offences including a prohibition to possess firearms.
 
Since Oct. 10, conservation officers have conducted patrols to enforce Manitoba’s new Wildlife Amendment Act (Safe Hunting and Shared Management), resulting in: 
charges or appearance notices to 47 individuals for serious wildlife offences;
warnings to 19 individuals for night hunting without a permit or for hunting in a moose conservation closure;
charges to 11 individuals for possessing illegally taken wildlife;
seizures of 10 vehicles; 
seizures of 20 firearms, and;
restitution orders totalling $20,500. 
 
On Oct. 10, the Wildlife Amendment Act (Safe Hunting and Shared Management) took effect with the goal of ensuring a safe hunting environment. Night hunting is now illegal in Manitoba on all private land. The act also allows the establishment of shared management committees, which can be an important tool for improved wildlife conservation including for moose. 
 
The province has implemented a permit system to allow opportunities for rights-based hunting on some Crown land, with different requirements for northern and southern Manitoba based on extensive Crown-Indigenous consultations that contributed to the development of the legislation. 
 
In northern Manitoba, Indigenous hunters may hunt at night on Crown land and do not need to apply for a permit, though it is subject to a three-kilometre safety buffer around occupied sites and provincial roadways.
 
In southern Manitoba, night hunting is prohibited except with a permit that allows rights-based hunting on Crown land, subject to terms and conditions establishing where it can be done safely.
 
Anyone with information on illegal activities is asked to call their local Manitoba Conservation and Climate office or the Turn In Poachers (TIP) line at 1-800-782-0076.
 
- 30 -