Poachers Kill Elk On Protected Oklahoma Wildlife Preserve; Reward Offered

The Nature Conservancy is offering a $1,000 reward for information after it found a bull elk had been slaughtered by poachers at wildlife preserve over the weekend, a release says.

The 8.5-year-old elk, named “Hollywood” and well-known to visitors of the Nature Conservancy in Tahlequah, was found to be killed illegally, and the poachers took only the head and a small amount of meat, leaving the rest behind, the conservancy says.

While there is a legal hunting season for elk in Cherokee County, hunting is prohibited 365 days a year on the J.T. Nickel Preserve, which is privately owned by The Nature Conservancy.

The preserve is the largest privately protected conservation area in the Ozarks. The 17,000-acre landscape rests in eastern Oklahoma's rolling Cookson Hills, overlooks the Illinois River and features a herd of elk that was re-introduced in 2005 after being absent from the Ozarks for more than 150 years.

The $1,000 reward for information is in addition to any reward offered by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.

Anyone with information about the poaching incident should contact ODWC game wardens: Brady May: 918-431-2552, Tony Clark: 918-431-2562 or Cpt. Joe Adair: 918-431-2543.