Government cabin near Joir River caribou herd vandalized

Police are investigating a break-in and theft at a government cabin in a remote area of Labrador, not far from a controversial hunt of caribou that conservation officials insist are threatened.

The cabin, owned by the Newfoundland and Labrador government's Department of Natural Resources, was broken into last week. The cabin, about 100 kilometres south of Happy Valley-Goose Bay, is used by conservation officers while they do patrols, and is accessible only by air and, in winter, by snowmobile.

The cabin is near Joir River and in the area where in the last two weeks Innu from Quebec hunted and killed about 40 caribou that are protected under endangered species legislation. The Quebec Innu dispute the government's stand that the Joir River herd had only 100 animals. The Innu said the herd had at least 2,000 animals.

The RCMP will not identify suspects, although Staff Sgt. Scott Morrison said only a limited number of people were in the area at the time.

"We'll be speaking to everybody that we know that was in the area, and trying to follow up the leads, and of course they're hunting in the area, so we will be speaking to any individuals that we can in that regard," Morrison said in an interview Monday.

The most serious part of the break-in included leaks in five large fuel drums that were part of a cache used at a nearby landing strip.

"The fuel drums were punctured with some kind of instrument, like an axe and all the fuel was leaked out of the drums in the area, which is a concern for us and the wildlife officials," Morrison told CBC News.

Some items were also reported stolen. "There was expensive gear and those items are missing," said Morrison, adding that the items include a couple of generators, some sleeping bags and a chainsaw.