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Agency Investigating Killing Of 2 Bull Elk In NW Minnesota

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Department of Natural Resources is investigating the illegal killing of two bull elk in northwestern Minnesota.

Wildlife officials conducting an aerial elk survey spotted the dead animals in late February on state land near Grygla. The DNR says an investigation determined the elk had been shot and left. Both animals were frozen and were dead for some time.

The animals were found in an area that holds Minnesota's smallest elk herd. Because of that herd's decline, that area has been closed to elk hunting since 2012.

DNR northwest region wildlife manager John Williams calls the discovery disturbing. Williams says the bulls represented about 10 percent of the known Grygla herd, now estimated at 18 elk.

Anyone with information can call the Turn In Poachers hotline at 800-652-9093.

(© Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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