Samson the elk may have died at the hands of a poacher, but his death may have had a greater impact on Colorado wildlife than if he had lived to a ripe old age.
"I think it sent a real strong message to our legal system about the seriousness of crimes against wildlife," said Rick Spowart, district wildlife manager for the Colorado Division of Wildlife.
Spowart and Jeff Maugans, director of visitor operations for Rocky Mountain National Park, spoke about living with wildlife at the Jan. 11 meeting of the Estes Valley Improvement Association.
Spowart offered advice to residents on reporting possible poaching.
He also described poaching laws and presented an update on the poaching of Samson, which he described as an example of the most distasteful form of wildlife crime.
Spowart has spoken to Randal Francis, 35, of Lakewood, the man who is accused of shooting Samson with a crossbow after he approached it on the grounds of the Estes Park Center/YMCA of the Rockies.
"I told him of all the elk in Estes Park, he shot the wrong elk," Spowart said.
Francis is also suspected in four other poaching incidents this year in the Denver-Metro area, Spowart said.
"We believe he is killing these animals and taking the heads to sell," the wildlife manager said.
Francis has a prior felony and prison record.
Spowart has received as many as 50 calls a day from angered Samson fans across the country.
Public anger over the crime has prompted Francis' defense attorney to request a change of venue, Spowart said.
Francis' pre-trial hearing was continued to Jan. 19 where he will either agree to a plea bargain or opt to take his case to trial.
Samson was 12 years old
Because of the incident, Spowart has also learned about Samson's life.
A post-mortem examination of Samson showed he was 12 years old.
Spowart has also learned the bull summered in the Grand Lake area, spent the rutting season on this side of the Continental Divide and then weathered the winter at the YMCA.
Residents can fight poaching
Spowart explained the Division of Wildlife needs all the help it can get to apprehend poachers.
He encourages residents to call the Estes Park Police Department if they suspect poaching.
"If you think something's rotten in Denmark, get a license plate number and 99 percent of the time we can find out who it is," Spowart said.
It is also helpful to record a vehicle description and the number of people in the vehicle.
To report poaching outside of Estes Park, call 1-800-332-4155 during business hours.
To find out information about legal hunting seasons in the Estes Valley, pamphlets are available any location that sells licenses.
In Estes Park this includes Safeway, Coast to Coast, and the Chamber of Commerce.
Human food deadly for elk
Even though many people are appalled at the poaching of Samson, few understand that far more elk and deer are killed each year by automobiles.
Spowart made a rough estimate based on his experience that 10 times as many elk in the Estes Valley are killed by cars as by poachers.
Deer and elk are often enticed to their deaths after a lifetime of eating handouts from people in cars, said Maugans.
Rocky Mountain National Park has few problems with poaching, but problems with people feeding deer, elk and other animals are widespread.
Feeding deer and elk is illegal, Maugans said, as well as being a threat to wildlife.
Human feeding disrupts the animals' natural diet, causing malnutrition and gum disease.
Human fed animals are also likely to eat plastic, which clogs their digestive tract.
"They smell human food on a plastic wrapper and don't differentiate between the plastic and food and consume it," Maugans said.
It decreases animals' fear of humans and encourages them to approach cars, a dangerous behavior.
It also causes danger to humans because wild animals can cause serious injury.
The Park has taken several steps to discourage feeding.
Staff and volunteers have traveled throughout the park to areas where visitors commonly feed animals.
The volunteers discourage visitors from feeding the animals and distribute cards explaining the dangers.
Last summer alone, Park volunteers and employees contacted roughly 10,000 people in this effort.
There are also plans to erect signs
clearly stating it is illegal to feed the animals, Maugans said.