5 to face charges in caribou killings

Hunters from Arctic villages that depend heavily on caribou for food are the main suspects in the slaughter of dozens of animals that were left to rot on the tundra, state wildlife officials said.

More than 60 unharvested caribou carcasses were discovered this month along a 40-mile trail network outside the Inupiat Eskimo villages of Point Hope and Kivalina.

Troopers said local hunters on all-terrain vehicles shot the caribou between July 4 and 8 as a herd of thousands migrated through. The region’s residents were allowed to take five caribou per day during the period, but failing to harvest the meat violates state law.

Alaska Wildlife Troopers planned to charge five men, a spokeswoman said.