A Ferruginous Hawk flies through the air. Courtesy: My Wild Alberta
Alberta Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Services (FWES) has charged five individuals following extensive investigations into poaching and illegal trafficking.
Simon Paul of Montana, Teresa Snow and Eli Snow of Morley, Alberta, and James Brittain and Sophia Soriano of Calgary face a combined 34 charges FWES said in a news release.
In August of 2024, an undercover FWES unit received intelligence from a confidential informant that Paul had fled to Canada and was residing with Teresa Snow on the Stoney Nakoda First Nation.
FWES said Paul was wanted in the United States on multiple charges related to the killing and trafficking of birds of prey in Montana and had failed to appear in court.
Further reports in November 2024 indicated that Paul was allegedly actively killing eagles on the Stoney Nakoda and Eden Valley First Nations land and selling wildlife products.
FWES launched an undercover operation in which Paul, Snow, and Brittain sold various items to undercover officers, including a bald eagle feather headdress, black bear claw necklaces and a raptor talon dance stick.
Alberta Fish and Wildlife launched a seperate investigation in March of 2025 after receiving a tip in from the Report A Poacher tip about Paul and Eli Snow allegedly shooting eagles and hawks from a truck near Cochrane.
Search warrants executed on the suspects’ truck and residence uncovered multiple freshly removed eagle feet with talons, feathers, blood, and other raptor parts, as well as unsecured firearms.
“Poaching is a crime that robs our province of wildlife that is central to the lives and livelihoods of many Albertans. 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,” said Alberta’s Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services Mike Ellis in a statement.
Across both investigations, the accused have been 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
In Alberta, Indigenous Peoples with Treaty rights or Métis harvesting status may lawfully harvest and possess certain wildlife for subsistence purposes for themselves and their immediate families.
Wildlife harvested under these rights may not be transferred, traded, bartered, sold, or possessed by individuals outside of the immediate family.
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