RCMP investigating shooting death of foal in Kananaskis
Baby horse found shot along McLean Creek Trail. RCMP investigating. Area is a firearm restriction zone. Photographer says foal was only days old.
A foal was found shot and killed along a popular trail in Kananaskis Country, with RCMP investigating the incident as a breach of firearm restrictions.
The young horse was discovered injured on McLean Creek Trail southwest of Bragg Creek on May 23 around 6:48 p.m. Kananaskis Emergency Services found the foal, reported that it had been shot, and euthanized it.
Cochrane RCMP is investigating. The area where the foal was found is designated a firearm use restriction zone, meaning no shooting is permitted within one kilometre of the road.
Alberta Fish and Wildlife is not involved. The province handed the case to RCMP because it involves the shooting of what it classifies as livestock rather than wildlife. Free-roaming horses in Alberta are considered feral animals under the Stray Animals Act, not protected by the Wildlife Act.
Wildlife photographer Patti Miyazaki, who has been following the herd in the Elbow River area for several months, said the foal had likely been born about two days before being shot. "I spent like an hour with her on Saturday taking pictures of her, and [I thought] I had the whole summer to take pictures of her, and she's gone," Miyazaki said. "It's tragic, it's hurt me deeply. It's very emotional. I've grown attached to this herd of horses."
McLean Creek Trail sits in the provincial government's Elbow equine management zone, one of four zones where the province says horse numbers have reached "unacceptable" levels. The province's feral horse management framework lists removal from the wild, adoption programs, and contraception as control strategies.