Man accused of assaulting wildlife officer

CBC has learned that a 30-year-old man from Sheshatshiu is facing charges after a confrontation between caribou hunters and wildlife officers.

The incident happened March 12 at Pocket Knife Lake, about 200 kilometres northwest of Sheshatshiu.

Wildlife officers were monitoring about two dozen hunters from the air on two helicopters, before landing near them.

The hunters were loading up dead caribou on their snowmobiles at the time.

Confrontation on the ground

A source who was at the scene that day said there was a confrontation, and the two helicopters had to take off because hunters began throwing sticks at the rotor blades.

That left wildlife offices stranded on the ground.

The source said that's when one of the officers was allegedly assaulted by the accused man.

No hunters were arrested on the scene, and theanimals were brought back to Sheshatshiu and shared among the community.

Newfoundland and Labrador's Department of Justice would not comment on what happened on the ground, or the condition of the wildlife officer who was allegedly assaulted.

The province has a five-year ban on hunting caribou from the George River herd in Labrador because of declining numbers.