Thieves target dead moose meant for charity in Alaska
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Thieves coming across dead moose on Alaska roads are stealing the carcasses, making away with hundreds of pounds of meat that normally goes to a program run by state troopers that gives it to the needy and others willing to butcher the carcasses, officials said.
Two moose killed recently by cars or trucks were set to be picked up by the trooper-sponsored program that alerts the Alaska Moose Federation so carcasses can be quickly delivered to recipients on a state troopers’ list of people who want them.
But federation drivers could not find the two dead moose in July and August when they went to roadkill sites between Anchorage and Denali National Park, said the federation’s director, Don Dyer.
Moose are the property of the state in Alaska when killed on the road and the thefts hurt Alaskans who like moose meat and depend on wild game to supplement their diets, he said.
“Sometimes there will be 10 people waiting for this moose to be delivered,” Dyer said. “Then we have to call them up and say, ‘Sorry, this moose has been stolen.’ ”
Roadkill moose provide plenty of food because adult bulls weigh up to 1,650 pounds, yielding more than 560 pounds of meat each.
Alaska’s cold weather allows residents to take advantage of roadkill meat as food because carcasses stay fresh long enough for federation drivers to retrieve them in time for them to be butchered rapidly.
“In Arizona, something like this might not work because of the spoilage factor,” Dyer said. “Here, where the climate is cooler, we’re able to salvage the meat quickly enough so that it’s not spoiled.”