The plan was to re-introduce the magnificent species of Roosevelt elk back to the upper Pitt Lake areas that had been wiped out a century ago from over hunting.
Last week, that project suffered a setback after a bull elk was shot and left to die in Vickers Creek, in the northeast area of Pitt Lake.
A passerby spotted the elk, a five-point male, in the creek. The elk had been shot once in the face and again in the shoulder.
"The animal was then left to rot," said conservation officer Robin Sano.
Twenty elk were reintroduced to the Stave Lake area in 2006-07, and 23 elk to the upper Pitt Lake area in 2004-05, as part of a larger ongoing provincial program to return the species to southwestern B.C.
As a result, the elk population as been re-established.
"It's a stable population," Sano said.
"They need lots of range."
Currently, there are about 70 elk in the Pitt Lake area but the target population is more than 160.
There have been reports of the elk venturing into Maple Ridge, but mostly they remain in the upper areas.
People hunting without a licence can be charged with poaching under the Wildlife Act.
Only two or three non-indigenous licences for hunting elk were issued this year.
• Anyone with information about the shooting, can call the service on the Report all Poachers and Polluters line at 1-877-952-7277.