Nemont
Well-known member
IDAHO FISH AND GAME
UPPER SNAKE REGION NEWS RELEASE
Idaho Falls, ID
Date: April 27, 2004
Contact: Gregg Losinski
(208) 525-7290
DNA Analysis - Home Video Help Catch Elk Poacher
IDAHO FALLS - Just like the person who never throws anything away because, "You never know when you might need it!", today's conservation officers have learned to always collect DNA samples from suspicious wildlife incidents. This stored DNA can then be compared to DNA samples collected from other suspicious incidents, even if years have passed. Thanks to a home video, Senior Conservation Officer Lew Huddleston was able to put all the pieces together to solve the case of a trophy bull elk poached in the Medicine Lodge area back in December of 2001.
Officer Huddleston had received a report of about a headless elk carcass that had been found, upon investigation he found that the animal had indeed been shot, but that the bullet had passed through and was not available as evidence. In order to create a potential link for future investigations, Huddleston took a tissue sample from the carcass to have the animal's specific DNA charted. This information would prove vital as events unfolded.
In the November of 2002, a Clark County resident Lynn Tomlinson was showing off a large 6 x 8 elk rack that he reported to have shot in Montana with a Montana elk tag. The problem was that another local sportsman had shot video back in September of 2001 of a large elk along Crooked Creek in Clark County that was very distinctive and looked identical to the rack that Tomlinson had said came from Montana. With this information a warrant was obtained and the antlers seized. Samples from the antlers were sent off to IDFG's lab in Boise and came back as an exact DNA match with the headless carcass found in Idaho back in December of 2001.
Story***CLICK on ME****
UPPER SNAKE REGION NEWS RELEASE
Idaho Falls, ID
Date: April 27, 2004
Contact: Gregg Losinski
(208) 525-7290
DNA Analysis - Home Video Help Catch Elk Poacher
IDAHO FALLS - Just like the person who never throws anything away because, "You never know when you might need it!", today's conservation officers have learned to always collect DNA samples from suspicious wildlife incidents. This stored DNA can then be compared to DNA samples collected from other suspicious incidents, even if years have passed. Thanks to a home video, Senior Conservation Officer Lew Huddleston was able to put all the pieces together to solve the case of a trophy bull elk poached in the Medicine Lodge area back in December of 2001.
Officer Huddleston had received a report of about a headless elk carcass that had been found, upon investigation he found that the animal had indeed been shot, but that the bullet had passed through and was not available as evidence. In order to create a potential link for future investigations, Huddleston took a tissue sample from the carcass to have the animal's specific DNA charted. This information would prove vital as events unfolded.
In the November of 2002, a Clark County resident Lynn Tomlinson was showing off a large 6 x 8 elk rack that he reported to have shot in Montana with a Montana elk tag. The problem was that another local sportsman had shot video back in September of 2001 of a large elk along Crooked Creek in Clark County that was very distinctive and looked identical to the rack that Tomlinson had said came from Montana. With this information a warrant was obtained and the antlers seized. Samples from the antlers were sent off to IDFG's lab in Boise and came back as an exact DNA match with the headless carcass found in Idaho back in December of 2001.
Story***CLICK on ME****
