Friday, July 19, 2013

Hunting for 1,000 stolen bison



A Manitoba rancher has enlisted a detective agency to unravel an unusual crime: the theft of approximately 1,000 bison from a family-run range near Pine River. Tom Olson of High Country Bison, located about 100 kilometres north of Dauphin, said the animals disappeared during the winter and the disparity was discovered only after his family -- who runs four ranges across the Prairies -- did a count a few weeks ago. That count came up about 1,000 short of the expected 2,000-plus herd. That would be a massive theft that would have required several semi-trailer trucks and an intimate knowledge of the range, Olson said. "Suffice to say someone with a very planned organization came in and removed 1,000 bison over a period of time," Olson told the Free Press Wednesday from Pine River, noting a semi-trailer would hold about 50 bison. "It was obviously someone who knew our operation very well. "They would have had to know exactly where the range was and when we wouldn't be out there." The Olson operation is a massive, although not widely known bison-recovery project that began 20 years ago with six bison on a ranch near Calgary, where Olson had become a successful international tax lawyer. Since then, along with his wife and 10 children, the Olson clan runs four bison ranches with 40,000 acres across three provinces. The Pine River operation is spread over 30,000 acres...more

Bison burglars got half his herd?

I see he is a tax attorney.  Could be the Canadian IRS got them.

 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Posting this ridiculous reward will more likely create a criminal (inspire someone to falsely accuse an inocent victim) than capture a true culprit. Most likely scenario for such a large number to disappear so quickly: they escaped en mobb! It's dangerously unwise to assume criminal intent and advertise a reward in amy manner which might inspire a less than scrupulous individual to falsely accuse someonetruely criminal act wild western thriller fence was first breached in some way (eg. cut or gate left open by the likes of same neighbor(s)who defiantly shot any bison that managed to escape in the past.) Which means the missing bison which escaped being shot, or predated by now have likely "gone bush", joined with wild herds and taken over their own "conservation" project. Good luck proving otherwise if none have tags, microchips, or any other way of proving ownership!