Alberta Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Services has charged five people in relation to poaching and illegal trafficking. Photo by Stephen Strand
The Alberta Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Services (FWES) team has laid charges against several alleged poachers in Alberta.
Among those who were charged is Teresa Snow and Eli Snow of Morley, James Brittain and Sophia Soriano of Calgary, and American fugitive, Simon Paul of Montana.
Together, they are facing a combined 34 charges under Alberta’s Wildlife Act and 9 charges under the Criminal Code of Canada.
“Poaching is a crime that robs our province of wildlife that is central to the lives and livelihoods of many Albertans,” the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services, Mike Ellis, stated in a media release. “I commend the dedication and hard work of Alberta Fish and Wildlife officers, along with our law enforcement partners, into these investigations to put an end to these illegal activities and help conserve and protect Alberta’s wildlife.”
Back in August of 2024, FWES’s undercover unit received information from a confidential informant that Simon Paul had fled from the United Stated and into Canada, and was living on the Stoney Nakoda First Nation with Teresa Snow.
Paul was wanted on multiple charges in the United States in relation to the killing and trafficking of birds of prey in Montana.
He had failed to appear in court for those charges.
More reports came forward in November, 2024, that Paul was actively killing eagles on Stoney Nakoda and Eden Valley First Nations land, as well as selling wildlife products.
Through an FWES undercover operation, Paul, Snow, and Brittain sold various items to undercover officers, which included a bald eagle feather headdress, black bear claw necklaces, and a raptor talon dance stick.
Then, in March of 2025, FWES officers in Cochrane began a separate investigation after they received a Report A Poacher tip about Paul and Eli Snow, who were allegedly shooting hawks and eagles from a truck near Cochrane.
Search warrants were then executed on the suspects’ residence and truck, which uncovered multiple freshly removed eagle feet with talons, feathers, blood, and other raptor parts, on top of finding unsecured firearms.
Due to both investigations, the accused are being charged with:
- Hunting wildlife for which there is no open season
- Unlawful possession and trafficking of wildlife
- Possession for the purpose of unlawful trafficking
- Providing false or misleading information to a fish and wildlife officer
- Careless transportation and storage of firearms
“The commitment of Fish and Wildlife personnel has driven this positive outcome,” the Deputy Chief for Alberta Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Services, Rob Lamont, sated in the media release. “I would like to thank the RCMP and the Tsuut’ina Nation Police Service for their collaboration and assistance that was essential to these complex investigations.”
Indigenous Peoples with treaty rights or Métis harvesting status in Alberta are lawfully allowed to harvest and possess certain wildlife for subsistence purposes for themselves and their immediate families, but any wildlife harvested under these rights are not to be transferred, traded, bartered, sold, or possessed by anyone outside of the immediate family.
Any information about a wildlife or fishery violation can be given to the 24-hour Report A Poacher line at 1-800-642-3800 or online, which can be found here.
Those who call in can remain anonymous and could qualify for a reward.
Comments