LA RONGE – A La Ronge man was fined $14,000 and banned from hunting for four years after he pleaded guilty in La Ronge Provincial Court to unlawful hunting and using a snowmobile to chase Woodland Caribou.
Caribou were chased approximately 13 kilometres, video footage on cell phones obtained by conservation officers showed. The footage also showed one animal falling through the ice, recovering, then being chased to exhaustion. One of the snowmobilers, later established to be Zane Layman, then killed the animal with a knife.
Layman’s other charges of possessing illegally taken wildlife and causing unnecessary suffering to an animal were withdrawn Jan. 9 as part of a joint submission by the Crown and defense counsel.
Two other La Ronge men, Carter Cossette and Robin Louis Jr., pleaded guilty in July 2022 to unlawfully chasing wildlife with a vehicle. Cossette was given a reduced fine of $1,800. Louis didn’t appear in court and was found guilty of the same offence and fined $2,800. Both men also received one-year hunting suspensions.
The three were charged after La Ronge conservation officers received independent reports that a caribou had been unlawfully killed approximately 450 kilometres north of La Ronge in April 2022.
The conservation officer’s investigation pointed to the violations being committed by employees of a local drilling company owned by Layman. The company had been working in the area behind the Key Lake mine site gates.
On May 5, officers interviewed Cossette and Louis who were employed by the company. They provided statements and cell phone video and photos were obtained.
Officers then raided Layman's home in the resort subdivision of Napatak south of La Ronge and collected evidence, including knives, clothing, equipment, and electronic devices.
The Boreal Woodland Caribou is a federally listed threatened species under the Species at Risk Act. Over the last five years, Saskatchewan's Woodland Caribou program has invested approximately $6 million in conservation.
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