Animal advocates are demanding new legislation after a deer was shot just steps away from the facility in Hampton Bays that released it back into the wild.
Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Center rehabilitates around 3,000 animals a year – including deer that head into the forest.
Ginnie Fratti, founder of the rescue center, says a couple of days into the hunting season, they heard a loud bang and found a deer they had released back into the wild in January 2022 that was shot by a hunter.
“I ran and tried to save her, and the hunter was standing right there – not even 10 feet from our building structures,” Fratti said.
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The hunter was so close because there is a hunting area right near the Evelyn Alexander Rescue Center.
Illegal and unsustainable fishing, fossil fuel exploration, the climate crisis and disease are pushing marine species to the brink of extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list, with populations of dugongs, abalone shellfish and pillar coral at risk of disappearing for ever.
Marine life is facing a “perfect storm” of human overconsumption, threatening the survival of some of the world’s most expensive seafood, according to the conservation organisation, which publishes the most up-to-date information on the health of wildlife populations on Earth.
From South Africa to Australia, 20 of the world’s 54 abalone species are now threatened with extinction, according to the first IUCN scientific assessment of the species group. In east Africa and New Caledonia, dugongs – marine mammals that largely feed on seagrass – are close to extinction, damaged by oil and gas exploration, bottom-trawling, chemical pollution and mining.
The information comes as countries negotiate this decade’s biodiversity targets for protecting the planet at Cop15, with draft proposals to take radical action on species extinction this decade.
“Today’s IUCN red list update reveals a perfect storm of unsustainable human activity decimating marine life around the globe. As the world looks to the ongoing UN biodiversity conference to set the course for nature recovery, we simply cannot afford to fail,” said Dr Bruno Oberle, IUCN director general. “We urgently need to address the linked climate and biodiversity crises, with profound changes to our economic systems, or we risk losing the crucial benefits the oceans provide us with.”
Those at risk include the endangered Omani abalone, found off the Arabian peninsula, which has disappeared from more than half its range due to pollution from agricultural and industrial runoff, which causes harmful algal blooms. On the west coast of South Africa, poaching by criminal networks, many connected to the international drugs trade, has devastated populations of the perlemoen abalone.
In the western Indian ocean, fewer than 250 mature dugongs are left, with fewer than 900 in New Caledonia.
“Strengthening community-led fisheries governance and expanding work opportunities beyond fishing are key in east Africa, where marine ecosystems are fundamental to people’s food security and livelihoods,” said Evan Trotzuk, who led the east Africa red list assessment of the mammals.
“Further, the creation of additional conserved areas where dugongs live, particularly around Bazaruto Archipelago national park [in Mozambique], would also empower local communities and other stakeholders to find, implement, and benefit from solutions that halt long-term declines in dugong abundance, as well as in seagrass extent and quality,” he said.
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The IUCN has moved pillar coral’s status from vulnerable to critically endangered following a dramatic drop in its population. Photograph: Francoise Cabada-Blanco/IUCN
The pillar coral, found from the Caribbean to the Yucatan peninsula, was also part of the most recent round of IUCN red list assessments and has been moved from vulnerable to critically endangered after its population shrank by more than 80% across its range since 1990. The decline was caused by disease, bleaching from the climate crisis and fertiliser runoff.
There are 150,388 species that have been assessed by scientists for the IUCN red list, of which 42,108 are threatened with extinction. More than 1,550 of the 17,903 marine animals and plants analysed are at risk of disappearing for ever, with global heating affecting at least 41% of threatened marine species.
VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. (KTLA) — Six people are in custody and a seventh is being sought by authorities after California Fish and Wildlife game wardens busted an alleged poaching ring that spanned several years and involved the cooperation of a local grocery market.
They’re called the E-Bike Crew, a group of six men who are believed responsible for dozens of illegal kills of local wildlife.
On Monday, Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced that 21 charges have been filed against the men, including allegations of forgery, conspiracy, receiving of stolen property, animal cruelty and possession of an untagged bear.
The investigation into the illegal poaching activities spanned more than a year.
The men involved, identified in public records as Martin M. Bravo, Martin Bravo Sr., Jaime Mendoza Avila, Walfre Lopez y Lopez, Gilberto Lopez Hernandez and Cristian Lopez Perez, are accused of working in concert together to fraudulently obtain California hunting tags, licenses and other entitlements.
The group allegedly worked with the cooperation of Juventino Reyes Guerrero, the operator of a Fish and Wildlife licensing desk located within Lizette’s Market in Piru.
From June 2019 to October 2021, the men allegedly falsified and reprinted hunting tags to allow them to skirt California hunting regulations and harvest more animals than legally allowed. Their motivation, court documents allege, was profit, personal gain and, simply, entertainment.McDonald’s offering 50-cent double cheeseburgers
California has restrictions on the number of animals that can be taken throughout the year. The restrictions exist to protect California’s wildlife species and prevent over-hunting, which can cause devastating results for the local ecosystem.
For example, California law prohibits more than two deer hunting tags to be issued per year.
While printing legal tags for the group, Reyes Guerrero reportedly regularly re-printed tickets, blaming it on poor print quality. In reality, game wardens allege, Guerrero was giving the men involved in the poaching group additional tags.
Each reprinted ticket is tracked through the state’s Automated License Data System. During the time that the alleged crimes took place, no licensed dealer in the state of California had more reprinted tickets than Lizette’s Market, authorities said.
Juventino Reyes Guerrero operating the licensing terminal at Lizette’s Market in this undated photo (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
A warden began taking notice of the scheme after coming across the group while on patrol in the Los Padres National Forest in northern Ventura County. The men were riding electric bicycles with their firearms on their person. One of the men received a warning for riding with a live round in the chamber of his gun.
One of the men, who documents identify as Mendoza Avila, spontaneously told the warden that they were part of the “E-Bike Crew from Oxnard.”
They group would ride their bikes across Ventura County and parts of Santa Barbara County, hunting animals and then using their e-bikes and trailers to transport them from where they fell.
Over the next year, that warden would receive several complaints and tips alleging that the same E-Bike Crew was responsible for multiple illegal kills, including some that took place in local wildlife sanctuaries and on a restricted oil field.
On one occasion, a Fish and Wildlife officer contacted several members of the group and found that some of their tags were only partially filled out. State law requires that these tags be filled out completely to prevent the same tag being used for multiple kills. It was just one of the examples of the group playing coy with their hunting tags, authorities allege.
The group was coordinated, wore camouflage and communicated via radio.
But the alleged poachers were not coordinated enough to avoid detection. They were spotted numerous times on camera as they hunted illegally in the Sespe Condor Sanctuary, which is closed off to the public because it’s a nesting ground for the endangered California Condor.
Investigators were able to get a clear idea of all the men involved in the poaching activity and later identified the source of their hunting tags as Lizette’s Market.
Additional tags were also found to have been printed and reprinted at a Walmart in Oxnard.
Reyes Guerrero, who operates Lizette’s Market, is accused of printing and reprinting the tags under his stepdaughter’s name. When contacted, the stepdaughter told investigators she had no idea about the operation.
It was later found that the poaching group and their associates accounted for 100% of all reprints at Lizette’s Market, Fish and Wildlife said.
On Dec. 8, 2021, search warrants were issued at locations across Ventura County that were associated with members of the E-Bike Crew.
During the search, officials recovered dozens of trophies, antlers and animal skulls that were believed to have been harvested illegally. Among them was a skull of a mountain lion, whom Martin M. Bravo allegedly tried to pass off as a bobcat skull. Hunting mountain lions is strictly prohibited in California.
Gilberto Lopez Hernandez poses with a recently killed bear on Sept. 25, 2021. (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
Various animal parts and frozen meat are seen in this photo taken on Dec. 8, 2021 during a raid at the home of Martin M. Bravo of Oxnard.(Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
A mounted trophy of a deer believed to be harvested illegally is seen in a shed belonging to Martin M. Bravo, photographed during a search warrant on Dec. 8, 2021 (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
A photograph of a bear taken on Oct. 18, 2020 from a seized cell phone (left) and what is believed to be the same bear located at a taxidermist shop in Oxnard several months later. (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
Gilberto Lopez Hernandez poses with a recently killed bear on Sept. 25, 2021. (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
Various animal parts and frozen meat are seen in this photo taken on Dec. 8, 2021 during a raid at the home of Martin M. Bravo of Oxnard.(Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
Various animal parts and frozen meat are seen in this photo taken on Dec. 8, 2021 during a raid at the home of Martin M. Bravo of Oxnard.(Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
At Bravo’s home, they also recovered metal slashing weapons that can be affixed to the feet of chickens, which are often associated with cock fighting, another illegal activity in California.
Bravo also allegedly admitted to killing a bear that was in the process of being taxidermized. The bear was never reported.
Freezers that were searched were also found to be filled with various animal meats, including both deer and bear — the bulk of which was believed to be obtained illegally.
Lizette’s Market was also among the locations searched. Physical and electronic evidence of the reprinting scheme was obtained during that search, officials said.
During interviews with the accused members of the E-Bike crew, many of the participants admitted to killing more than the legally allowed number of animals, improperly using the hunting tags and discussing how to get reprinted tags. Several of them also admitted to exchanging and bartering illegally obtained animal parts and meat.
The owners of Lizette’s Market denied knowingly participating in the scheme, court documents state.
Review of text message and WhatsApp conversations also shed light on the process and revealed many of those involved in the scheme discussed the illegal activity openly with one another.
In the summary findings of the investigation, Fish and Wildlife officials say the group was responsible for an undetermined number of illegal kills over the years, including dozens of deer and several bears, and either simply didn’t report the kills or used fraudulent tags in an attempt to cover their tracks.
“With the reprint scheme enacted, the Wildlife Trafficking Organization (WTO) was allowed to go into the surrounding wilderness areas in and around Ventura County and provided the means to illegally kill any game animal at any given time with a safeguard in place in the event the group was confronted by law enforcement. The execution of this scheme has resulted in a significant loss to wildlife resources within the county, the deprivation of lawful hunting opportunity for law abiding citizens, and the illegal commercialization of native wildlife for personal gain or profit,” the arrest warrant states.
Martin M. Bravo and his father, Martin Bravo Sr., Jaime Mendoza Avila, Gilberto Lopez Hernandez, Cristian Lopez Perez and Juventino Reyes Guerrero were arraigned on Monday and remain in custody with bail set at $200,000. Walfre Lopez y Lopez has not yet been located and has an active arrest warrant.
Major animal poaching ring busted by CA Fish and Wildlife
BY TRAVIS SCHLEPP AND NEXSTAR MEDIA WIRE – 12/09/22 6:53 AM ET
VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. (KTLA) — Six people are in custody and a seventh is being sought by authorities after California Fish and Wildlife game wardens busted an alleged poaching ring that spanned several years and involved the cooperation of a local grocery market.
They’re called the E-Bike Crew, a group of six men who are believed responsible for dozens of illegal kills of local wildlife.
On Monday, Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced that 21 charges have been filed against the men, including allegations of forgery, conspiracy, receiving of stolen property, animal cruelty and possession of an untagged bear.
The investigation into the illegal poaching activities spanned more than a year.
The men involved, identified in public records as Martin M. Bravo, Martin Bravo Sr., Jaime Mendoza Avila, Walfre Lopez y Lopez, Gilberto Lopez Hernandez and Cristian Lopez Perez, are accused of working in concert together to fraudulently obtain California hunting tags, licenses and other entitlements.
The group allegedly worked with the cooperation of Juventino Reyes Guerrero, the operator of a Fish and Wildlife licensing desk located within Lizette’s Market in Piru.
From June 2019 to October 2021, the men allegedly falsified and reprinted hunting tags to allow them to skirt California hunting regulations and harvest more animals than legally allowed. Their motivation, court documents allege, was profit, personal gain and, simply, entertainment.McDonald’s offering 50-cent double cheeseburgers
California has restrictions on the number of animals that can be taken throughout the year. The restrictions exist to protect California’s wildlife species and prevent over-hunting, which can cause devastating results for the local ecosystem.
For example, California law prohibits more than two deer hunting tags to be issued per year.
While printing legal tags for the group, Reyes Guerrero reportedly regularly re-printed tickets, blaming it on poor print quality. In reality, game wardens allege, Guerrero was giving the men involved in the poaching group additional tags.
Each reprinted ticket is tracked through the state’s Automated License Data System. During the time that the alleged crimes took place, no licensed dealer in the state of California had more reprinted tickets than Lizette’s Market, authorities said.
Juventino Reyes Guerrero operating the licensing terminal at Lizette’s Market in this undated photo (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
A warden began taking notice of the scheme after coming across the group while on patrol in the Los Padres National Forest in northern Ventura County. The men were riding electric bicycles with their firearms on their person. One of the men received a warning for riding with a live round in the chamber of his gun.
One of the men, who documents identify as Mendoza Avila, spontaneously told the warden that they were part of the “E-Bike Crew from Oxnard.”
They group would ride their bikes across Ventura County and parts of Santa Barbara County, hunting animals and then using their e-bikes and trailers to transport them from where they fell.
Over the next year, that warden would receive several complaints and tips alleging that the same E-Bike Crew was responsible for multiple illegal kills, including some that took place in local wildlife sanctuaries and on a restricted oil field.
On one occasion, a Fish and Wildlife officer contacted several members of the group and found that some of their tags were only partially filled out. State law requires that these tags be filled out completely to prevent the same tag being used for multiple kills. It was just one of the examples of the group playing coy with their hunting tags, authorities allege.
The group was coordinated, wore camouflage and communicated via radio.
But the alleged poachers were not coordinated enough to avoid detection. They were spotted numerous times on camera as they hunted illegally in the Sespe Condor Sanctuary, which is closed off to the public because it’s a nesting ground for the endangered California Condor.
Investigators were able to get a clear idea of all the men involved in the poaching activity and later identified the source of their hunting tags as Lizette’s Market.
Additional tags were also found to have been printed and reprinted at a Walmart in Oxnard.
Reyes Guerrero, who operates Lizette’s Market, is accused of printing and reprinting the tags under his stepdaughter’s name. When contacted, the stepdaughter told investigators she had no idea about the operation.
It was later found that the poaching group and their associates accounted for 100% of all reprints at Lizette’s Market, Fish and Wildlife said.
On Dec. 8, 2021, search warrants were issued at locations across Ventura County that were associated with members of the E-Bike Crew.
During the search, officials recovered dozens of trophies, antlers and animal skulls that were believed to have been harvested illegally. Among them was a skull of a mountain lion, whom Martin M. Bravo allegedly tried to pass off as a bobcat skull. Hunting mountain lions is strictly prohibited in California.
Gilberto Lopez Hernandez poses with a recently killed bear on Sept. 25, 2021. (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
Various animal parts and frozen meat are seen in this photo taken on Dec. 8, 2021 during a raid at the home of Martin M. Bravo of Oxnard.(Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
A mounted trophy of a deer believed to be harvested illegally is seen in a shed belonging to Martin M. Bravo, photographed during a search warrant on Dec. 8, 2021 (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
A photograph of a bear taken on Oct. 18, 2020 from a seized cell phone (left) and what is believed to be the same bear located at a taxidermist shop in Oxnard several months later. (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
Gilberto Lopez Hernandez poses with a recently killed bear on Sept. 25, 2021. (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
Various animal parts and frozen meat are seen in this photo taken on Dec. 8, 2021 during a raid at the home of Martin M. Bravo of Oxnard.(Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
Various animal parts and frozen meat are seen in this photo taken on Dec. 8, 2021 during a raid at the home of Martin M. Bravo of Oxnard.(Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
At Bravo’s home, they also recovered metal slashing weapons that can be affixed to the feet of chickens, which are often associated with cock fighting, another illegal activity in California.
Bravo also allegedly admitted to killing a bear that was in the process of being taxidermized. The bear was never reported.
Freezers that were searched were also found to be filled with various animal meats, including both deer and bear — the bulk of which was believed to be obtained illegally.
Lizette’s Market was also among the locations searched. Physical and electronic evidence of the reprinting scheme was obtained during that search, officials said.
During interviews with the accused members of the E-Bike crew, many of the participants admitted to killing more than the legally allowed number of animals, improperly using the hunting tags and discussing how to get reprinted tags. Several of them also admitted to exchanging and bartering illegally obtained animal parts and meat.
The owners of Lizette’s Market denied knowingly participating in the scheme, court documents state.
Review of text message and WhatsApp conversations also shed light on the process and revealed many of those involved in the scheme discussed the illegal activity openly with one another.
In the summary findings of the investigation, Fish and Wildlife officials say the group was responsible for an undetermined number of illegal kills over the years, including dozens of deer and several bears, and either simply didn’t report the kills or used fraudulent tags in an attempt to cover their tracks.
“With the reprint scheme enacted, the Wildlife Trafficking Organization (WTO) was allowed to go into the surrounding wilderness areas in and around Ventura County and provided the means to illegally kill any game animal at any given time with a safeguard in place in the event the group was confronted by law enforcement. The execution of this scheme has resulted in a significant loss to wildlife resources within the county, the deprivation of lawful hunting opportunity for law abiding citizens, and the illegal commercialization of native wildlife for personal gain or profit,” the arrest warrant states.
Martin M. Bravo and his father, Martin Bravo Sr., Jaime Mendoza Avila, Gilberto Lopez Hernandez, Cristian Lopez Perez and Juventino Reyes Guerrero were arraigned on Monday and remain in custody with bail set at $200,000. Walfre Lopez y Lopez has not yet been located and has an active arrest warrant.
Major animal poaching ring busted by CA Fish and Wildlife
BY TRAVIS SCHLEPP AND NEXSTAR MEDIA WIRE – 12/09/22 6:53 AM ET
VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. (KTLA) — Six people are in custody and a seventh is being sought by authorities after California Fish and Wildlife game wardens busted an alleged poaching ring that spanned several years and involved the cooperation of a local grocery market.
They’re called the E-Bike Crew, a group of six men who are believed responsible for dozens of illegal kills of local wildlife.
On Monday, Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced that 21 charges have been filed against the men, including allegations of forgery, conspiracy, receiving of stolen property, animal cruelty and possession of an untagged bear.
The investigation into the illegal poaching activities spanned more than a year.
The men involved, identified in public records as Martin M. Bravo, Martin Bravo Sr., Jaime Mendoza Avila, Walfre Lopez y Lopez, Gilberto Lopez Hernandez and Cristian Lopez Perez, are accused of working in concert together to fraudulently obtain California hunting tags, licenses and other entitlements.
The group allegedly worked with the cooperation of Juventino Reyes Guerrero, the operator of a Fish and Wildlife licensing desk located within Lizette’s Market in Piru.
From June 2019 to October 2021, the men allegedly falsified and reprinted hunting tags to allow them to skirt California hunting regulations and harvest more animals than legally allowed. Their motivation, court documents allege, was profit, personal gain and, simply, entertainment.McDonald’s offering 50-cent double cheeseburgers
California has restrictions on the number of animals that can be taken throughout the year. The restrictions exist to protect California’s wildlife species and prevent over-hunting, which can cause devastating results for the local ecosystem.
For example, California law prohibits more than two deer hunting tags to be issued per year.
While printing legal tags for the group, Reyes Guerrero reportedly regularly re-printed tickets, blaming it on poor print quality. In reality, game wardens allege, Guerrero was giving the men involved in the poaching group additional tags.
Each reprinted ticket is tracked through the state’s Automated License Data System. During the time that the alleged crimes took place, no licensed dealer in the state of California had more reprinted tickets than Lizette’s Market, authorities said.
Juventino Reyes Guerrero operating the licensing terminal at Lizette’s Market in this undated photo (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
A warden began taking notice of the scheme after coming across the group while on patrol in the Los Padres National Forest in northern Ventura County. The men were riding electric bicycles with their firearms on their person. One of the men received a warning for riding with a live round in the chamber of his gun.
One of the men, who documents identify as Mendoza Avila, spontaneously told the warden that they were part of the “E-Bike Crew from Oxnard.”
They group would ride their bikes across Ventura County and parts of Santa Barbara County, hunting animals and then using their e-bikes and trailers to transport them from where they fell.
Over the next year, that warden would receive several complaints and tips alleging that the same E-Bike Crew was responsible for multiple illegal kills, including some that took place in local wildlife sanctuaries and on a restricted oil field.
On one occasion, a Fish and Wildlife officer contacted several members of the group and found that some of their tags were only partially filled out. State law requires that these tags be filled out completely to prevent the same tag being used for multiple kills. It was just one of the examples of the group playing coy with their hunting tags, authorities allege.
The group was coordinated, wore camouflage and communicated via radio.
But the alleged poachers were not coordinated enough to avoid detection. They were spotted numerous times on camera as they hunted illegally in the Sespe Condor Sanctuary, which is closed off to the public because it’s a nesting ground for the endangered California Condor.
Investigators were able to get a clear idea of all the men involved in the poaching activity and later identified the source of their hunting tags as Lizette’s Market.
Additional tags were also found to have been printed and reprinted at a Walmart in Oxnard.
Reyes Guerrero, who operates Lizette’s Market, is accused of printing and reprinting the tags under his stepdaughter’s name. When contacted, the stepdaughter told investigators she had no idea about the operation.
It was later found that the poaching group and their associates accounted for 100% of all reprints at Lizette’s Market, Fish and Wildlife said.
On Dec. 8, 2021, search warrants were issued at locations across Ventura County that were associated with members of the E-Bike Crew.
During the search, officials recovered dozens of trophies, antlers and animal skulls that were believed to have been harvested illegally. Among them was a skull of a mountain lion, whom Martin M. Bravo allegedly tried to pass off as a bobcat skull. Hunting mountain lions is strictly prohibited in California.
Gilberto Lopez Hernandez poses with a recently killed bear on Sept. 25, 2021. (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
Various animal parts and frozen meat are seen in this photo taken on Dec. 8, 2021 during a raid at the home of Martin M. Bravo of Oxnard.(Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
A mounted trophy of a deer believed to be harvested illegally is seen in a shed belonging to Martin M. Bravo, photographed during a search warrant on Dec. 8, 2021 (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
A photograph of a bear taken on Oct. 18, 2020 from a seized cell phone (left) and what is believed to be the same bear located at a taxidermist shop in Oxnard several months later. (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
Gilberto Lopez Hernandez poses with a recently killed bear on Sept. 25, 2021. (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
Various animal parts and frozen meat are seen in this photo taken on Dec. 8, 2021 during a raid at the home of Martin M. Bravo of Oxnard.(Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
Various animal parts and frozen meat are seen in this photo taken on Dec. 8, 2021 during a raid at the home of Martin M. Bravo of Oxnard.(Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
At Bravo’s home, they also recovered metal slashing weapons that can be affixed to the feet of chickens, which are often associated with cock fighting, another illegal activity in California.
Bravo also allegedly admitted to killing a bear that was in the process of being taxidermized. The bear was never reported.
Freezers that were searched were also found to be filled with various animal meats, including both deer and bear — the bulk of which was believed to be obtained illegally.
Lizette’s Market was also among the locations searched. Physical and electronic evidence of the reprinting scheme was obtained during that search, officials said.
During interviews with the accused members of the E-Bike crew, many of the participants admitted to killing more than the legally allowed number of animals, improperly using the hunting tags and discussing how to get reprinted tags. Several of them also admitted to exchanging and bartering illegally obtained animal parts and meat.
The owners of Lizette’s Market denied knowingly participating in the scheme, court documents state.
Review of text message and WhatsApp conversations also shed light on the process and revealed many of those involved in the scheme discussed the illegal activity openly with one another.
In the summary findings of the investigation, Fish and Wildlife officials say the group was responsible for an undetermined number of illegal kills over the years, including dozens of deer and several bears, and either simply didn’t report the kills or used fraudulent tags in an attempt to cover their tracks.
“With the reprint scheme enacted, the Wildlife Trafficking Organization (WTO) was allowed to go into the surrounding wilderness areas in and around Ventura County and provided the means to illegally kill any game animal at any given time with a safeguard in place in the event the group was confronted by law enforcement. The execution of this scheme has resulted in a significant loss to wildlife resources within the county, the deprivation of lawful hunting opportunity for law abiding citizens, and the illegal commercialization of native wildlife for personal gain or profit,” the arrest warrant states.
Martin M. Bravo and his father, Martin Bravo Sr., Jaime Mendoza Avila, Gilberto Lopez Hernandez, Cristian Lopez Perez and Juventino Reyes Guerrero were arraigned on Monday and remain in custody with bail set at $200,000. Walfre Lopez y Lopez has not yet been located and has an active arrest warrant.
Major animal poaching ring busted by CA Fish and Wildlife
BY TRAVIS SCHLEPP AND NEXSTAR MEDIA WIRE – 12/09/22 6:53 AM ET
VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. (KTLA) — Six people are in custody and a seventh is being sought by authorities after California Fish and Wildlife game wardens busted an alleged poaching ring that spanned several years and involved the cooperation of a local grocery market.
They’re called the E-Bike Crew, a group of six men who are believed responsible for dozens of illegal kills of local wildlife.
On Monday, Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced that 21 charges have been filed against the men, including allegations of forgery, conspiracy, receiving of stolen property, animal cruelty and possession of an untagged bear.
The investigation into the illegal poaching activities spanned more than a year.
The men involved, identified in public records as Martin M. Bravo, Martin Bravo Sr., Jaime Mendoza Avila, Walfre Lopez y Lopez, Gilberto Lopez Hernandez and Cristian Lopez Perez, are accused of working in concert together to fraudulently obtain California hunting tags, licenses and other entitlements.
The group allegedly worked with the cooperation of Juventino Reyes Guerrero, the operator of a Fish and Wildlife licensing desk located within Lizette’s Market in Piru.
From June 2019 to October 2021, the men allegedly falsified and reprinted hunting tags to allow them to skirt California hunting regulations and harvest more animals than legally allowed. Their motivation, court documents allege, was profit, personal gain and, simply, entertainment.McDonald’s offering 50-cent double cheeseburgers
California has restrictions on the number of animals that can be taken throughout the year. The restrictions exist to protect California’s wildlife species and prevent over-hunting, which can cause devastating results for the local ecosystem.
For example, California law prohibits more than two deer hunting tags to be issued per year.
While printing legal tags for the group, Reyes Guerrero reportedly regularly re-printed tickets, blaming it on poor print quality. In reality, game wardens allege, Guerrero was giving the men involved in the poaching group additional tags.
Each reprinted ticket is tracked through the state’s Automated License Data System. During the time that the alleged crimes took place, no licensed dealer in the state of California had more reprinted tickets than Lizette’s Market, authorities said.
Juventino Reyes Guerrero operating the licensing terminal at Lizette’s Market in this undated photo (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
A warden began taking notice of the scheme after coming across the group while on patrol in the Los Padres National Forest in northern Ventura County. The men were riding electric bicycles with their firearms on their person. One of the men received a warning for riding with a live round in the chamber of his gun.
One of the men, who documents identify as Mendoza Avila, spontaneously told the warden that they were part of the “E-Bike Crew from Oxnard.”
They group would ride their bikes across Ventura County and parts of Santa Barbara County, hunting animals and then using their e-bikes and trailers to transport them from where they fell.
Over the next year, that warden would receive several complaints and tips alleging that the same E-Bike Crew was responsible for multiple illegal kills, including some that took place in local wildlife sanctuaries and on a restricted oil field.
On one occasion, a Fish and Wildlife officer contacted several members of the group and found that some of their tags were only partially filled out. State law requires that these tags be filled out completely to prevent the same tag being used for multiple kills. It was just one of the examples of the group playing coy with their hunting tags, authorities allege.
The group was coordinated, wore camouflage and communicated via radio.
But the alleged poachers were not coordinated enough to avoid detection. They were spotted numerous times on camera as they hunted illegally in the Sespe Condor Sanctuary, which is closed off to the public because it’s a nesting ground for the endangered California Condor.
Investigators were able to get a clear idea of all the men involved in the poaching activity and later identified the source of their hunting tags as Lizette’s Market.
Additional tags were also found to have been printed and reprinted at a Walmart in Oxnard.
Reyes Guerrero, who operates Lizette’s Market, is accused of printing and reprinting the tags under his stepdaughter’s name. When contacted, the stepdaughter told investigators she had no idea about the operation.
It was later found that the poaching group and their associates accounted for 100% of all reprints at Lizette’s Market, Fish and Wildlife said.
On Dec. 8, 2021, search warrants were issued at locations across Ventura County that were associated with members of the E-Bike Crew.
During the search, officials recovered dozens of trophies, antlers and animal skulls that were believed to have been harvested illegally. Among them was a skull of a mountain lion, whom Martin M. Bravo allegedly tried to pass off as a bobcat skull. Hunting mountain lions is strictly prohibited in California.
Gilberto Lopez Hernandez poses with a recently killed bear on Sept. 25, 2021. (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
Various animal parts and frozen meat are seen in this photo taken on Dec. 8, 2021 during a raid at the home of Martin M. Bravo of Oxnard.(Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
A mounted trophy of a deer believed to be harvested illegally is seen in a shed belonging to Martin M. Bravo, photographed during a search warrant on Dec. 8, 2021 (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
A photograph of a bear taken on Oct. 18, 2020 from a seized cell phone (left) and what is believed to be the same bear located at a taxidermist shop in Oxnard several months later. (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
Gilberto Lopez Hernandez poses with a recently killed bear on Sept. 25, 2021. (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
Various animal parts and frozen meat are seen in this photo taken on Dec. 8, 2021 during a raid at the home of Martin M. Bravo of Oxnard.(Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
Various animal parts and frozen meat are seen in this photo taken on Dec. 8, 2021 during a raid at the home of Martin M. Bravo of Oxnard.(Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
At Bravo’s home, they also recovered metal slashing weapons that can be affixed to the feet of chickens, which are often associated with cock fighting, another illegal activity in California.
Bravo also allegedly admitted to killing a bear that was in the process of being taxidermized. The bear was never reported.
Freezers that were searched were also found to be filled with various animal meats, including both deer and bear — the bulk of which was believed to be obtained illegally.
Lizette’s Market was also among the locations searched. Physical and electronic evidence of the reprinting scheme was obtained during that search, officials said.
During interviews with the accused members of the E-Bike crew, many of the participants admitted to killing more than the legally allowed number of animals, improperly using the hunting tags and discussing how to get reprinted tags. Several of them also admitted to exchanging and bartering illegally obtained animal parts and meat.
The owners of Lizette’s Market denied knowingly participating in the scheme, court documents state.
Review of text message and WhatsApp conversations also shed light on the process and revealed many of those involved in the scheme discussed the illegal activity openly with one another.
In the summary findings of the investigation, Fish and Wildlife officials say the group was responsible for an undetermined number of illegal kills over the years, including dozens of deer and several bears, and either simply didn’t report the kills or used fraudulent tags in an attempt to cover their tracks.
“With the reprint scheme enacted, the Wildlife Trafficking Organization (WTO) was allowed to go into the surrounding wilderness areas in and around Ventura County and provided the means to illegally kill any game animal at any given time with a safeguard in place in the event the group was confronted by law enforcement. The execution of this scheme has resulted in a significant loss to wildlife resources within the county, the deprivation of lawful hunting opportunity for law abiding citizens, and the illegal commercialization of native wildlife for personal gain or profit,” the arrest warrant states.
Martin M. Bravo and his father, Martin Bravo Sr., Jaime Mendoza Avila, Gilberto Lopez Hernandez, Cristian Lopez Perez and Juventino Reyes Guerrero were arraigned on Monday and remain in custody with bail set at $200,000. Walfre Lopez y Lopez has not yet been located and has an active arrest warrant.
Major animal poaching ring busted by CA Fish and Wildlife
BY TRAVIS SCHLEPP AND NEXSTAR MEDIA WIRE – 12/09/22 6:53 AM ET
VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. (KTLA) — Six people are in custody and a seventh is being sought by authorities after California Fish and Wildlife game wardens busted an alleged poaching ring that spanned several years and involved the cooperation of a local grocery market.
They’re called the E-Bike Crew, a group of six men who are believed responsible for dozens of illegal kills of local wildlife.
On Monday, Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced that 21 charges have been filed against the men, including allegations of forgery, conspiracy, receiving of stolen property, animal cruelty and possession of an untagged bear.
The investigation into the illegal poaching activities spanned more than a year.
The men involved, identified in public records as Martin M. Bravo, Martin Bravo Sr., Jaime Mendoza Avila, Walfre Lopez y Lopez, Gilberto Lopez Hernandez and Cristian Lopez Perez, are accused of working in concert together to fraudulently obtain California hunting tags, licenses and other entitlements.
The group allegedly worked with the cooperation of Juventino Reyes Guerrero, the operator of a Fish and Wildlife licensing desk located within Lizette’s Market in Piru.
From June 2019 to October 2021, the men allegedly falsified and reprinted hunting tags to allow them to skirt California hunting regulations and harvest more animals than legally allowed. Their motivation, court documents allege, was profit, personal gain and, simply, entertainment.McDonald’s offering 50-cent double cheeseburgers
California has restrictions on the number of animals that can be taken throughout the year. The restrictions exist to protect California’s wildlife species and prevent over-hunting, which can cause devastating results for the local ecosystem.
For example, California law prohibits more than two deer hunting tags to be issued per year.
While printing legal tags for the group, Reyes Guerrero reportedly regularly re-printed tickets, blaming it on poor print quality. In reality, game wardens allege, Guerrero was giving the men involved in the poaching group additional tags.
Each reprinted ticket is tracked through the state’s Automated License Data System. During the time that the alleged crimes took place, no licensed dealer in the state of California had more reprinted tickets than Lizette’s Market, authorities said.
Juventino Reyes Guerrero operating the licensing terminal at Lizette’s Market in this undated photo (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
A warden began taking notice of the scheme after coming across the group while on patrol in the Los Padres National Forest in northern Ventura County. The men were riding electric bicycles with their firearms on their person. One of the men received a warning for riding with a live round in the chamber of his gun.
One of the men, who documents identify as Mendoza Avila, spontaneously told the warden that they were part of the “E-Bike Crew from Oxnard.”
They group would ride their bikes across Ventura County and parts of Santa Barbara County, hunting animals and then using their e-bikes and trailers to transport them from where they fell.
Over the next year, that warden would receive several complaints and tips alleging that the same E-Bike Crew was responsible for multiple illegal kills, including some that took place in local wildlife sanctuaries and on a restricted oil field.
On one occasion, a Fish and Wildlife officer contacted several members of the group and found that some of their tags were only partially filled out. State law requires that these tags be filled out completely to prevent the same tag being used for multiple kills. It was just one of the examples of the group playing coy with their hunting tags, authorities allege.
The group was coordinated, wore camouflage and communicated via radio.
But the alleged poachers were not coordinated enough to avoid detection. They were spotted numerous times on camera as they hunted illegally in the Sespe Condor Sanctuary, which is closed off to the public because it’s a nesting ground for the endangered California Condor.
Investigators were able to get a clear idea of all the men involved in the poaching activity and later identified the source of their hunting tags as Lizette’s Market.
Additional tags were also found to have been printed and reprinted at a Walmart in Oxnard.
Reyes Guerrero, who operates Lizette’s Market, is accused of printing and reprinting the tags under his stepdaughter’s name. When contacted, the stepdaughter told investigators she had no idea about the operation.
It was later found that the poaching group and their associates accounted for 100% of all reprints at Lizette’s Market, Fish and Wildlife said.
On Dec. 8, 2021, search warrants were issued at locations across Ventura County that were associated with members of the E-Bike Crew.
During the search, officials recovered dozens of trophies, antlers and animal skulls that were believed to have been harvested illegally. Among them was a skull of a mountain lion, whom Martin M. Bravo allegedly tried to pass off as a bobcat skull. Hunting mountain lions is strictly prohibited in California.
Gilberto Lopez Hernandez poses with a recently killed bear on Sept. 25, 2021. (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
Various animal parts and frozen meat are seen in this photo taken on Dec. 8, 2021 during a raid at the home of Martin M. Bravo of Oxnard.(Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
A mounted trophy of a deer believed to be harvested illegally is seen in a shed belonging to Martin M. Bravo, photographed during a search warrant on Dec. 8, 2021 (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
A photograph of a bear taken on Oct. 18, 2020 from a seized cell phone (left) and what is believed to be the same bear located at a taxidermist shop in Oxnard several months later. (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
Gilberto Lopez Hernandez poses with a recently killed bear on Sept. 25, 2021. (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
Various animal parts and frozen meat are seen in this photo taken on Dec. 8, 2021 during a raid at the home of Martin M. Bravo of Oxnard.(Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
Various animal parts and frozen meat are seen in this photo taken on Dec. 8, 2021 during a raid at the home of Martin M. Bravo of Oxnard.(Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
At Bravo’s home, they also recovered metal slashing weapons that can be affixed to the feet of chickens, which are often associated with cock fighting, another illegal activity in California.
Bravo also allegedly admitted to killing a bear that was in the process of being taxidermized. The bear was never reported.
Freezers that were searched were also found to be filled with various animal meats, including both deer and bear — the bulk of which was believed to be obtained illegally.
Lizette’s Market was also among the locations searched. Physical and electronic evidence of the reprinting scheme was obtained during that search, officials said.
During interviews with the accused members of the E-Bike crew, many of the participants admitted to killing more than the legally allowed number of animals, improperly using the hunting tags and discussing how to get reprinted tags. Several of them also admitted to exchanging and bartering illegally obtained animal parts and meat.
The owners of Lizette’s Market denied knowingly participating in the scheme, court documents state.
Review of text message and WhatsApp conversations also shed light on the process and revealed many of those involved in the scheme discussed the illegal activity openly with one another.
In the summary findings of the investigation, Fish and Wildlife officials say the group was responsible for an undetermined number of illegal kills over the years, including dozens of deer and several bears, and either simply didn’t report the kills or used fraudulent tags in an attempt to cover their tracks.
“With the reprint scheme enacted, the Wildlife Trafficking Organization (WTO) was allowed to go into the surrounding wilderness areas in and around Ventura County and provided the means to illegally kill any game animal at any given time with a safeguard in place in the event the group was confronted by law enforcement. The execution of this scheme has resulted in a significant loss to wildlife resources within the county, the deprivation of lawful hunting opportunity for law abiding citizens, and the illegal commercialization of native wildlife for personal gain or profit,” the arrest warrant states.
Martin M. Bravo and his father, Martin Bravo Sr., Jaime Mendoza Avila, Gilberto Lopez Hernandez, Cristian Lopez Perez and Juventino Reyes Guerrero were arraigned on Monday and remain in custody with bail set at $200,000. Walfre Lopez y Lopez has not yet been located and has an active arrest warrant.
Major animal poaching ring busted by CA Fish and Wildlife
BY TRAVIS SCHLEPP AND NEXSTAR MEDIA WIRE – 12/09/22 6:53 AM ET
VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. (KTLA) — Six people are in custody and a seventh is being sought by authorities after California Fish and Wildlife game wardens busted an alleged poaching ring that spanned several years and involved the cooperation of a local grocery market.
They’re called the E-Bike Crew, a group of six men who are believed responsible for dozens of illegal kills of local wildlife.
On Monday, Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced that 21 charges have been filed against the men, including allegations of forgery, conspiracy, receiving of stolen property, animal cruelty and possession of an untagged bear.
The investigation into the illegal poaching activities spanned more than a year.
The men involved, identified in public records as Martin M. Bravo, Martin Bravo Sr., Jaime Mendoza Avila, Walfre Lopez y Lopez, Gilberto Lopez Hernandez and Cristian Lopez Perez, are accused of working in concert together to fraudulently obtain California hunting tags, licenses and other entitlements.
The group allegedly worked with the cooperation of Juventino Reyes Guerrero, the operator of a Fish and Wildlife licensing desk located within Lizette’s Market in Piru.
From June 2019 to October 2021, the men allegedly falsified and reprinted hunting tags to allow them to skirt California hunting regulations and harvest more animals than legally allowed. Their motivation, court documents allege, was profit, personal gain and, simply, entertainment.McDonald’s offering 50-cent double cheeseburgers
California has restrictions on the number of animals that can be taken throughout the year. The restrictions exist to protect California’s wildlife species and prevent over-hunting, which can cause devastating results for the local ecosystem.
For example, California law prohibits more than two deer hunting tags to be issued per year.
While printing legal tags for the group, Reyes Guerrero reportedly regularly re-printed tickets, blaming it on poor print quality. In reality, game wardens allege, Guerrero was giving the men involved in the poaching group additional tags.
Each reprinted ticket is tracked through the state’s Automated License Data System. During the time that the alleged crimes took place, no licensed dealer in the state of California had more reprinted tickets than Lizette’s Market, authorities said.
Juventino Reyes Guerrero operating the licensing terminal at Lizette’s Market in this undated photo (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
A warden began taking notice of the scheme after coming across the group while on patrol in the Los Padres National Forest in northern Ventura County. The men were riding electric bicycles with their firearms on their person. One of the men received a warning for riding with a live round in the chamber of his gun.
One of the men, who documents identify as Mendoza Avila, spontaneously told the warden that they were part of the “E-Bike Crew from Oxnard.”
They group would ride their bikes across Ventura County and parts of Santa Barbara County, hunting animals and then using their e-bikes and trailers to transport them from where they fell.
Over the next year, that warden would receive several complaints and tips alleging that the same E-Bike Crew was responsible for multiple illegal kills, including some that took place in local wildlife sanctuaries and on a restricted oil field.
On one occasion, a Fish and Wildlife officer contacted several members of the group and found that some of their tags were only partially filled out. State law requires that these tags be filled out completely to prevent the same tag being used for multiple kills. It was just one of the examples of the group playing coy with their hunting tags, authorities allege.
The group was coordinated, wore camouflage and communicated via radio.
But the alleged poachers were not coordinated enough to avoid detection. They were spotted numerous times on camera as they hunted illegally in the Sespe Condor Sanctuary, which is closed off to the public because it’s a nesting ground for the endangered California Condor.
Investigators were able to get a clear idea of all the men involved in the poaching activity and later identified the source of their hunting tags as Lizette’s Market.
Additional tags were also found to have been printed and reprinted at a Walmart in Oxnard.
Reyes Guerrero, who operates Lizette’s Market, is accused of printing and reprinting the tags under his stepdaughter’s name. When contacted, the stepdaughter told investigators she had no idea about the operation.
It was later found that the poaching group and their associates accounted for 100% of all reprints at Lizette’s Market, Fish and Wildlife said.
On Dec. 8, 2021, search warrants were issued at locations across Ventura County that were associated with members of the E-Bike Crew.
During the search, officials recovered dozens of trophies, antlers and animal skulls that were believed to have been harvested illegally. Among them was a skull of a mountain lion, whom Martin M. Bravo allegedly tried to pass off as a bobcat skull. Hunting mountain lions is strictly prohibited in California.
Gilberto Lopez Hernandez poses with a recently killed bear on Sept. 25, 2021. (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
Various animal parts and frozen meat are seen in this photo taken on Dec. 8, 2021 during a raid at the home of Martin M. Bravo of Oxnard.(Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
A mounted trophy of a deer believed to be harvested illegally is seen in a shed belonging to Martin M. Bravo, photographed during a search warrant on Dec. 8, 2021 (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
A photograph of a bear taken on Oct. 18, 2020 from a seized cell phone (left) and what is believed to be the same bear located at a taxidermist shop in Oxnard several months later. (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
Gilberto Lopez Hernandez poses with a recently killed bear on Sept. 25, 2021. (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
Various animal parts and frozen meat are seen in this photo taken on Dec. 8, 2021 during a raid at the home of Martin M. Bravo of Oxnard.(Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
Various animal parts and frozen meat are seen in this photo taken on Dec. 8, 2021 during a raid at the home of Martin M. Bravo of Oxnard.(Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
At Bravo’s home, they also recovered metal slashing weapons that can be affixed to the feet of chickens, which are often associated with cock fighting, another illegal activity in California.
Bravo also allegedly admitted to killing a bear that was in the process of being taxidermized. The bear was never reported.
Freezers that were searched were also found to be filled with various animal meats, including both deer and bear — the bulk of which was believed to be obtained illegally.
Lizette’s Market was also among the locations searched. Physical and electronic evidence of the reprinting scheme was obtained during that search, officials said.
During interviews with the accused members of the E-Bike crew, many of the participants admitted to killing more than the legally allowed number of animals, improperly using the hunting tags and discussing how to get reprinted tags. Several of them also admitted to exchanging and bartering illegally obtained animal parts and meat.
The owners of Lizette’s Market denied knowingly participating in the scheme, court documents state.
Review of text message and WhatsApp conversations also shed light on the process and revealed many of those involved in the scheme discussed the illegal activity openly with one another.
In the summary findings of the investigation, Fish and Wildlife officials say the group was responsible for an undetermined number of illegal kills over the years, including dozens of deer and several bears, and either simply didn’t report the kills or used fraudulent tags in an attempt to cover their tracks.
“With the reprint scheme enacted, the Wildlife Trafficking Organization (WTO) was allowed to go into the surrounding wilderness areas in and around Ventura County and provided the means to illegally kill any game animal at any given time with a safeguard in place in the event the group was confronted by law enforcement. The execution of this scheme has resulted in a significant loss to wildlife resources within the county, the deprivation of lawful hunting opportunity for law abiding citizens, and the illegal commercialization of native wildlife for personal gain or profit,” the arrest warrant states.
Martin M. Bravo and his father, Martin Bravo Sr., Jaime Mendoza Avila, Gilberto Lopez Hernandez, Cristian Lopez Perez and Juventino Reyes Guerrero were arraigned on Monday and remain in custody with bail set at $200,000. Walfre Lopez y Lopez has not yet been located and has an active arrest warrant.
The men are due back in court on Wednesday in Ventura County Superior Court.
The men are due back in court on Wednesday in Ventura County Superior Court.
The men are due back in court on Wednesday in Ventura County Superior Court.
The men are due back in court on Wednesday in Ventura County Superior Court.
The men are due back in court on Wednesday in Ventura County Superior Court.
The men are due back in court on Wednesday in Ventura County Superior Court.
BY TRAVIS SCHLEPP AND NEXSTAR MEDIA WIRE – 12/09/22 6:53 AM ET
VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. (KTLA) — Six people are in custody and a seventh is being sought by authorities after California Fish and Wildlife game wardens busted an alleged poaching ring that spanned several years and involved the cooperation of a local grocery market.
They’re called the E-Bike Crew, a group of six men who are believed responsible for dozens of illegal kills of local wildlife.
On Monday, Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced that 21 charges have been filed against the men, including allegations of forgery, conspiracy, receiving of stolen property, animal cruelty and possession of an untagged bear.
The investigation into the illegal poaching activities spanned more than a year.
The men involved, identified in public records as Martin M. Bravo, Martin Bravo Sr., Jaime Mendoza Avila, Walfre Lopez y Lopez, Gilberto Lopez Hernandez and Cristian Lopez Perez, are accused of working in concert together to fraudulently obtain California hunting tags, licenses and other entitlements.
The group allegedly worked with the cooperation of Juventino Reyes Guerrero, the operator of a Fish and Wildlife licensing desk located within Lizette’s Market in Piru.
From June 2019 to October 2021, the men allegedly falsified and reprinted hunting tags to allow them to skirt California hunting regulations and harvest more animals than legally allowed. Their motivation, court documents allege, was profit, personal gain and, simply, entertainment.McDonald’s offering 50-cent double cheeseburgers
California has restrictions on the number of animals that can be taken throughout the year. The restrictions exist to protect California’s wildlife species and prevent over-hunting, which can cause devastating results for the local ecosystem.
For example, California law prohibits more than two deer hunting tags to be issued per year.
While printing legal tags for the group, Reyes Guerrero reportedly regularly re-printed tickets, blaming it on poor print quality. In reality, game wardens allege, Guerrero was giving the men involved in the poaching group additional tags.
Each reprinted ticket is tracked through the state’s Automated License Data System. During the time that the alleged crimes took place, no licensed dealer in the state of California had more reprinted tickets than Lizette’s Market, authorities said.
Juventino Reyes Guerrero operating the licensing terminal at Lizette’s Market in this undated photo (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
A warden began taking notice of the scheme after coming across the group while on patrol in the Los Padres National Forest in northern Ventura County. The men were riding electric bicycles with their firearms on their person. One of the men received a warning for riding with a live round in the chamber of his gun.
One of the men, who documents identify as Mendoza Avila, spontaneously told the warden that they were part of the “E-Bike Crew from Oxnard.”
They group would ride their bikes across Ventura County and parts of Santa Barbara County, hunting animals and then using their e-bikes and trailers to transport them from where they fell.
Over the next year, that warden would receive several complaints and tips alleging that the same E-Bike Crew was responsible for multiple illegal kills, including some that took place in local wildlife sanctuaries and on a restricted oil field.
On one occasion, a Fish and Wildlife officer contacted several members of the group and found that some of their tags were only partially filled out. State law requires that these tags be filled out completely to prevent the same tag being used for multiple kills. It was just one of the examples of the group playing coy with their hunting tags, authorities allege.
The group was coordinated, wore camouflage and communicated via radio.
But the alleged poachers were not coordinated enough to avoid detection. They were spotted numerous times on camera as they hunted illegally in the Sespe Condor Sanctuary, which is closed off to the public because it’s a nesting ground for the endangered California Condor.
Investigators were able to get a clear idea of all the men involved in the poaching activity and later identified the source of their hunting tags as Lizette’s Market.
Additional tags were also found to have been printed and reprinted at a Walmart in Oxnard.
Reyes Guerrero, who operates Lizette’s Market, is accused of printing and reprinting the tags under his stepdaughter’s name. When contacted, the stepdaughter told investigators she had no idea about the operation.
It was later found that the poaching group and their associates accounted for 100% of all reprints at Lizette’s Market, Fish and Wildlife said.
On Dec. 8, 2021, search warrants were issued at locations across Ventura County that were associated with members of the E-Bike Crew.
During the search, officials recovered dozens of trophies, antlers and animal skulls that were believed to have been harvested illegally. Among them was a skull of a mountain lion, whom Martin M. Bravo allegedly tried to pass off as a bobcat skull. Hunting mountain lions is strictly prohibited in California.
Gilberto Lopez Hernandez poses with a recently killed bear on Sept. 25, 2021. (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
Various animal parts and frozen meat are seen in this photo taken on Dec. 8, 2021 during a raid at the home of Martin M. Bravo of Oxnard.(Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
A mounted trophy of a deer believed to be harvested illegally is seen in a shed belonging to Martin M. Bravo, photographed during a search warrant on Dec. 8, 2021 (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
A photograph of a bear taken on Oct. 18, 2020 from a seized cell phone (left) and what is believed to be the same bear located at a taxidermist shop in Oxnard several months later. (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
Gilberto Lopez Hernandez poses with a recently killed bear on Sept. 25, 2021. (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
Various animal parts and frozen meat are seen in this photo taken on Dec. 8, 2021 during a raid at the home of Martin M. Bravo of Oxnard.(Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
Various animal parts and frozen meat are seen in this photo taken on Dec. 8, 2021 during a raid at the home of Martin M. Bravo of Oxnard.(Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
At Bravo’s home, they also recovered metal slashing weapons that can be affixed to the feet of chickens, which are often associated with cock fighting, another illegal activity in California.
Bravo also allegedly admitted to killing a bear that was in the process of being taxidermized. The bear was never reported.
Freezers that were searched were also found to be filled with various animal meats, including both deer and bear — the bulk of which was believed to be obtained illegally.
Lizette’s Market was also among the locations searched. Physical and electronic evidence of the reprinting scheme was obtained during that search, officials said.
During interviews with the accused members of the E-Bike crew, many of the participants admitted to killing more than the legally allowed number of animals, improperly using the hunting tags and discussing how to get reprinted tags. Several of them also admitted to exchanging and bartering illegally obtained animal parts and meat.
The owners of Lizette’s Market denied knowingly participating in the scheme, court documents state.
Review of text message and WhatsApp conversations also shed light on the process and revealed many of those involved in the scheme discussed the illegal activity openly with one another.
In the summary findings of the investigation, Fish and Wildlife officials say the group was responsible for an undetermined number of illegal kills over the years, including dozens of deer and several bears, and either simply didn’t report the kills or used fraudulent tags in an attempt to cover their tracks.
“With the reprint scheme enacted, the Wildlife Trafficking Organization (WTO) was allowed to go into the surrounding wilderness areas in and around Ventura County and provided the means to illegally kill any game animal at any given time with a safeguard in place in the event the group was confronted by law enforcement. The execution of this scheme has resulted in a significant loss to wildlife resources within the county, the deprivation of lawful hunting opportunity for law abiding citizens, and the illegal commercialization of native wildlife for personal gain or profit,” the arrest warrant states.
Martin M. Bravo and his father, Martin Bravo Sr., Jaime Mendoza Avila, Gilberto Lopez Hernandez, Cristian Lopez Perez and Juventino Reyes Guerrero were arraigned on Monday and remain in custody with bail set at $200,000. Walfre Lopez y Lopez has not yet been located and has an active arrest warrant.
The men are due back in court on Wednesday in Ventura County Superior Court.
Denmark had been the world’s biggest producer of mink fur until the industry was shutdown by the Danish government in 2020.
More than 1,000 mink farms in Denmark were ordered to close over fears a Covid mutation was a risk to human health. Two years on, most will never reopen
The farm is quiet. Martin Merrild is sweeping leaves. Behind him is a row of 20 large sheds – all empty. Two years ago, his farm near Hjerm in West Jutland had been home to 15,000 mink, a small carnivorous mammal bred by farmers in individual cages before being skinned for its fur.
Since he started mink farming almost 40 years ago, Merrild’s life had revolved around a yearly cycle. It would start with a smaller population of female and male mink. In early March, the females would be ready for breeding and Merrild and his staff would have just a few weeks to ensure they got a mate. From late April, mink the size of a thumb would be born.
Martin Merrild has been farming mink since the 1980s, until an outbreak of Covid in 2020 saw his entire herd culled. He hasn’t reared a mink since
These would grow quickly over the summer months to about 3-4kg. They would be killed and skinned for their fur in November, with the cycle repeated the following year.
Across Denmark, more than 15 million mink were bred every year on farms like Merrild’s. Denmark was the world’s biggest producer of mink fur, at one point producing 40% of the world’s supply, mostly exported to Asia.
But on the morning of 4 November 2020, the industry came to a standstill as the Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, announced the culling of the country’s entire farmed mink herd: 15 million animals.
Merrild’s mink sheds and cages lie empty
Twelve people had become infected with a Covid-19 mutation that originated in mink and Frederiksen feared the mutation, if left unchecked, could jeopardise future vaccines.
Soon after the announcement, veterinary officials came to kill Merrild’s animals. His sheds have remained largely untouched ever since.
Merrild plans to sell his farm once he receives compensation to dismantle and remove his mink sheds
“We’re lucky as we’ve had other things to do on the farm,” says Merrild, who also grows food crops and has a flock of poultry. “But there are men who’ve only ever worked with mink their whole lives. They were on a mink farm every day. And now nothing for two years.”
Half an hour south of Merrild’s farm is a collection of large warehouses emblazoned with the illustration of a mink. They belong to a company that had been feeding 3 million mink across the region, trucking out hundreds of tonnes of feed to farms every day during the peak summer months.
Much of the supporting industry, including companies who produced feed for the mink, have been mothballed since the Danish government shutdown the industry
Today, it feels like a half-empty museum without any visitors. Staff at the site have found other jobs, but the buildings and machinery remain mothballed as the owners await the outcome of a compensation claim.
“I just wish it would end. The business is over so we just want to be able to move on now,” says the company’s former chairman.
More than 1,000 former mink farmers are still waiting on the outcome of their compensation claims
There are more than 1,000 former mink farmers, like Merrild, who are still waiting on the outcome of their compensation claims. Unable to dismantle their barns, they are farming ghosts.
Aase Rask had worried for the health of her husband, Ejner, then 68, as his mink were taken away and killed. He had known nothing else since the early 1980s, with their son lined up to take over the farm near Holstebro, West Jutland.
They see few viable alternatives for making the farm profitable and their son is now trying to forge an alternative career in machinery.
Aase and Ejner Rask had been solely farming mink on their farm near Holstebro, Denmark since the early 1980s
But Ejner has at least found a new and unlikely passion: growing strawberries. Over the past two years, four of his sheds have been filled with berries, along with a small amount of peppers, potatoes and other vegetables. The couple sell them during the summer months on a stall by the roadside.
Even now, with the onset of winter, the mink cages are partly hidden by the green leaves of the plants.
“It’s more of a hobby and just about keeps my brain active, so I’m not just sitting down,” says Ejner. “It has been cheaper than going to a psychologist. At least strawberries don’t bite and everyone likes them.”
The Rasks have taken to growing tomatoes and peppers since mink farming was halted
The Danish government recently agreed to allow mink farming to restart after an official inquiry found its shutdown lacked legal justification. Although there were outbreaks of Covid in farmed mink across the world, Denmark was the only country to order a wholesale cull and shutdown its industry.
But after two years, many of the 5,000-plus vets, feed manufacturers, auctioneers and advisers involved have moved on, with just a handful of farmers expected to pick up where they left off. Everyone else is just waiting to see their cages removed.
The Rasks had about 27,000 mink on their farm before the animals were culled
“We knew quickly that the mink would not be coming back. The infrastructure supporting the industry has gone now. It’s over,” says Merrild.
At 67, the delays to compensation have left him feeling too old to consider replacing the mink with something else. “The best thing for the value of the farm [if we sell it] is to get the mink stuff away now,” he says.
Ejner Rask says growing strawberries keeps his brain active and that “everybody likes strawberries”
Deforestation is a major threat to the survival of orangutan. Here a baby sumatran orangutan plays around in a tree as they train at Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme’s rehabilitation center in Indonesia.
Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images
Delegates from around the world are gathering in Montreal this week to address what United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has described as “humanity’s senseless and suicidal war with nature.”
The UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which kicked off Tuesday, comes at a critical time. More than a million species are at risk of extinction globally, many within decades, because of human actions. Destruction of forests, wetlands and other natural ecosystems that clean air and water for the world’s now 8 billion human residents continues worldwide. Climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise.
The World Economic Forum lists biodiversity loss as one of the top three global risks, because the loss of nature doesn’t just impact plants and animals.
“If there’s no food, there’s no clean air to breathe in, there’s no water, there are no medicines which are dependent on biodiversity resources, where are we? What are we?” said Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, the executive secretary of the convention. “It means we will perish just as the animals and plants.”
Here’s what you need to know about the nearly two-week convention:
What is the Convention on Biological Diversity?
Remember the climate conference, COP27, in Egypt last month? The CBD is a lot like that. It’s a conference of parties — more than 190 countries in total (though, notably, not the U.S.) — gathered with the intent of slowing the decline in nature.
This is the 15th meeting of the CBD. A critical one that’s long-overdue. Previous planned conventions were disrupted by COVID-19, the kind of pandemic that scientists say becomes more likely as we continue to fracture and damage the natural world.
What’s so special about this one?
Every ten years, the CBD negotiates something called a Global Biodiversity Framework. It sets goals for member nations over the next decade. In this case, countries will try to agree on a framework that lasts until 2030.
What are the main goals of this convention?
Generally and bluntly speaking, the main goal is to stop the bleeding.
A study published last year suggests just 3% of the world’s ecosystems are still ecologically intact — meaning they still support healthy populations of their native species and haven’t been tarnished by human actions.
The assessment, which was bleaker than previous studies, recommends urgent efforts to protect those areas and restore others, “while this is still possible.”
A report from the world’s leading scientists shows humans have significantly altered 75% of the Earth’s land and two-thirds of its oceans.
“Fundamentally, we need to safeguard our life support systems in the face of accelerating nature loss,” said Rebecca Shaw, chief scientist at the World Wildlife Fund. “Inaction is absolutely not an option because it will put us only at greater risks of pandemics, which none of us want, it undermines our efforts on securing our climate, and it makes our food production systems much more vulnerable.”
Ok, but what specifically are they looking at?
The draft framework for the convention lists more than 20 goals (you can read it here).
The flashiest item on the list is a pledge by member countries to protect 30% of their land and water by the year 2030, a concept known as 30 by 30. The Biden administration has pledged to do that in the U.S., as have scores of other countries.
An aerial view of a deforested area of the Amazonia rainforest in Brazil this year.
SMichael Dantas/AFP via Getty Images
Big questions remain though about what, specifically, will count as conserved or protected land. And there are concerns from indigenous groups that the concept could be used as a pretense to displace indigenous people from their lands, similar to how the U.S. national park system was used to displace Native Americans.
“There is a lot of evidence that shows traditional lands and territories managed by indigenous peoples are the most important areas when it comes to biodiversity,” said Viviana Figueroa, a legal expert at the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity, who’s part of the negotiations in Montreal. “So it would be a high interest to take our land. This is something we don’t want.”
Wait… why isn’t the U.S. part of the Convention on Biological Diversity?
The U.S. is one of just four UN members that hasn’t signed on to the CBD. The reason is politics.
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The CBD was ratified in 1993, with input from the U.S. The Clinton administration wanted to sign the treaty but was blocked by a Republican majority in the Senate.
Conservation groups have called on the Biden administration to join the CBD. It rejoined the Paris climate agreement after the U.S. left under former president Donald Trump.
The Biden administration has not made an effort to sign on to the treaty but is expected to have a behind-the-scenes role in the negotiations. It has made biodiversity a priority, appointing a first-ever special envoy for biodiversity and water resources, launching its America the Beautiful initiative, aimed at conserving and restoring natural ecosystems, and has started work on making nature a part of the country’s economic calculus.
What are the expected tension points?
As we saw at last month’s climate conference in Egypt, these conventions often end without interested parties getting everything they want. Delegates expect there to be hard negotiations over the wording and substance of all the proposed goals.
Similar to the climate conference, the biggest tension point is likely to revolve around the issue of financing. Conserving nature may be crucial to sustaining the global economy in the long-term, but it also costs money up front.
Smaller, developing nations, which are disproportionately suffering the effects of climate change and biodiversity loss, want to see stronger financial commitments from richer, developed countries, which have economically benefited from polluting the world’s environment.
Richer countries have a long history of promising to help finance climate and biodiversity projects but haven’t always followed through. Progress was made with the establishment of a fund for “loss and damage” — the climate impacts smaller countries are feeling right now — at the recent climate conference but questions remain about who will put money into it and when.
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The first draft of the biodiversity framework identified a $700 billion annual financing gap to reverse nature’s decline. Questions will undoubtedly come up over who should help pay to resolve that.
Will an agreement actually slow nature loss?
That is the many dollar question. And there’s reason for skepticism. The previous ten-year framework set by the CBD in 2010 established 20 conservation and nature-related targets for the year 2020. None of them were achieved.
More than 10,000 people are attending this year’s CBD, including NGOs and businesses.
Shaw said the broad interest from the public and private sector is a hopeful indication that the biodiversity crisis is finally gaining broad international recognition.
“We have seen a ratcheting up in commitment and focus on climate change in the last 20 years,” Shaw said. “And it’s because the impacts have become unbearable globally. Like you can’t ignore it anymore. We’re there on the nature side.”
The state Department of Environmental Conservation released details on a pair of illegal deer hunting incidents in Wayne County last month.
On November 18th officers received a call from Wayne County 911 reporting an individual who shot a deer with a rifle.
By the time DEC officers arrived on-scene, a deputy with the sheriff’s office and officer with the Macedon Police Department were already there.
The subject admitted that because he wouldn’t be able to hunt during opening season, he shot a deer with his rifle one day early.
Other hunters saw and reported the deer being shot and falling. Charge are pending against the hunter, who was not identified, for the illegal take of a whitetail deer.
In a separate incident on November 19th a hunter in Wayne County was charged after taking two deer within 30 minutes of each other.
Residents in the Riverside Park South neighbourhood are worried about unauthorized coyote traps being set. The City of Ottawa removed its traps earlier this month and it appears someone is setting up their own.
Hunt Club East resident Michelle Briere walks her dog in McCarthy Woods almost every day. She says she’s worried the traps might hurt her dog.
“I think it’s pretty irresponsible to have these traps out in the forest, especially if they’re not announced,” says Briere. “I would say probably 90 per cent of the people who come into this forest walk their dogs off leash and there’s always young children running around as well. So I’m quite concerned that someone’s dog or child is going to end up getting…
A man shovels to dig out his car in Silver Spring, Maryland, on February 6, 2010. Photo: Jewel Samad/AFP via Getty Images
An extreme weather pattern is affecting conditions across the U.S. and Europe, specifically a powerful area of high pressure across Greenland and Hudson Bay. This feature, known as a “Greenland Block,” along with another weather cycle, typically lead tocold and snow in the eastern U.S., parts of Europe and Asia.
The big picture:The blocking high over Greenland is acting like an atmospheric detour, diverting weather systems around it and favoring, but not guaranteeing, cold air outbreaks in Europe and North America as Christmas approaches.
For now, life is flourishing on our oxygen-rich planet, but Earth wasn’t always that way – and scientists have predicted that, in the future, the atmosphere will revert back to one that’s rich in methane and low in oxygen.
This probably won’t happen for another billion years or so. But when the change comes, it’s going to happen fairly rapidly, according to research published in 2021.
This shift will take the planet back to something like the state it was in before what’s known as the Great Oxidation Event (GOE) around 2.4 billion years ago.
What’s more, the researchers behind the study say that atmospheric oxygen is unlikely to be a permanent feature of habitable worlds in general, which has…
A light mural organised by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) projected on the Palais de Justice in Montreal, Canada. Photograph: Andrej Ivanov/AFP/Getty Images
The “fate of the entire living world” will be determined at the Cop15 UN biodiversity summit, according to leading scientists.
They said the gathering of the world’s nations, which began on Wednesday in Montreal, is “vastly more important than Cop27”, the recent high-profile UN climate meeting. “We say this because of the many dimensions of anthropogenic global change … the most critical, complex and challenging is that of biodiversity loss,” the researchers said.
The current rapid loss of wildlife and natural places is seen as the start of a sixth mass extinction by many scientists and is destroying the life-support systems on which humanity depends for clean air, water and food. Protection of the natural world, such as rainforests, is also vital in ending the climate emergency.
Cop15 aims to ensure the protection of 30% of the planet by 2030, as well as the redirection of $500bn in agricultural subsidies that support the destruction of nature.
The warning from scientists came in an editorial in the journal Science Advances, written by Prof Shahid Naeem at Columbia University, US; Prof Yonglong Lu at Xiamen University, China; and Prof Jeremy Jackson at the American Museum of Natural History.
They said an earlier 10-year plan, known as the Aichi iodiversity targets, failed to meet any of its goals by its 2020 deadline, despite being backed by 196 nations. “Failure is not an option this time as Earth’s terrestrial, marine, and freshwater systems begin to collapse under the pressure to meet the needs of a global population that will soon approach 10 billion,” the researchers said.
However, they added that there were some reasons for optimism, including wide and growing support for the “30×30” protection plan and the fact that the drivers of biodiversity loss are well understood, giving clear direction for action.
The destruction of wild places for farming and mining is the key cause of biodiversity loss, along with the overexploitation of wild animals and plants on land and in the seas and pollution. The climate crisis and the spread of invasive species around the world also contribute. The UN’s environment chief, Inger Andersen, has called these drivers the “the five horsemen of the biodiversity apocalypse”.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, opened the summit with a stark message: “Without nature, we are nothing. Nature is our life-support system, and yet humanity seems hellbent on destruction.
“With our bottomless appetite for unchecked and unequal economic growth, humanity has become a weapon of mass extinction,” he said. “[Cop15] is our chance to stop this orgy of destruction, to move from discord to harmony.”
Along with the “30×30” target, other draft goals for the Cop15 agreement include reducing the rate of introduction of invasive species by 50%, cutting pesticide use by at least two-thirds, halting the flow of plastic pollution and making it compulsory for big businesses to disclose their impact on nature.
In the editorial, Naeem and his colleagues said: “A comprehensive body of scientific evidence has highlighted how global change, including climate change, is ultimately tied to biodiversity conservation.” For example, they said, healthy forests and oceans can absorb huge amounts of climate-heating carbon dioxide.
They said a leading study of the effect of Covid-19 lockdowns showed how “the reduction in traffic, industrial noise and pollution, and human-wildlife contact led to a wide range of positive impacts on nature around the world”, with “animals quickly responding to the reductions in human presence”. However, a reduction in conservation work also led to illegal hunting and habitat destruction.
“The take-home message was that stemming biodiversity loss can be achieved not only by just reducing human pressures but also by enhancing human activities in research, restoration and conservation,” the researchers said.
They said the Cop15 agreement would have to recognise the rights of Indigenous peoples and secure long-term funding from wealthier nations to achieve the targets, because many of the most biodiverse places are in low-income countries.
French diplomat Laurence Tubiana, an architect of the Paris climate agreement, said: “We need a global goal to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. This will direct targets, laws, policies and funding at all levels and regions, much like the 2015 Paris agreement has started doing for climate action. In seven years, the momentum is clear to see. We need the same momentum to protect all life on Earth.”
Prof Johan Rockström, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, said: “We need a ‘Paris moment’ in Montreal. Only if we protect and regenerate Earth’s nature, can we really protect Earth’s climate.”
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Gilberto Lopez Hernandez poses with a recently killed bear on Sept. 25, 2021. (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
Various animal parts and frozen meat are seen in this photo taken on Dec. 8, 2021 during a raid at the home of Martin M. Bravo of Oxnard.(Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
A mounted trophy of a deer believed to be harvested illegally is seen in a shed belonging to Martin M. Bravo, photographed during a search warrant on Dec. 8, 2021 (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
A photograph of a bear taken on Oct. 18, 2020 from a seized cell phone (left) and what is believed to be the same bear located at a taxidermist shop in Oxnard several months later. (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)
