Police have opened a pre-trial investigation after a deer was killed and butchered on 3 October near the village of Smolnik, in the Karnobat area. The Interior Ministry says the animal was spotted at about 12:20 pm during a group hunt.
Officers found signs at the scene that a wild animal had been cut up. A forensic veterinary examination is to establish how it died.
According to the report, a separate doe with a gunshot wound was found dead on the road between Ekzarh Antimovo and Zhitosvyat. It is not known whether the two cases are linked.
The man who filed the report gave more details. He says that after a call to 112, forest rangers, police, gendarmes and an investigator came. He says the deer was skinned and butchered on the spot, and only the innards and the hide were left.
Forest rangers found the doe later. The man believes it was shot, probably ran from the hunters and fell not far away. Its body is in a freezer at the Ropotamo State Hunting Estate while the investigation goes on.
He says 18 members of the Smolnik hunting group were hunting in the area that day. Deer hunting there was completely banned, he says, and the group had a permit only for wild boar and predators. The hunting licence numbers of all participants are written in the hunt record.
The man also says there are empty water bottles with fingerprints at the site. He repeats a rumour that a trail camera belonging to the hunting group from the village of Dobrinovo filmed the deer being cut up, and that the participants are clearly visible in the footage. It has not been confirmed that such a recording exists or that it shows the culprits, or that the items found have been examined.
Local people he cites say the doe was shot with a bullet from a rifled weapon. He says a ballistics test would easily identify its owner.
The Interior Ministry has not established who shot the deer or who butchered it. The presence of hunters in the area does not in itself prove involvement, and there is no information that anyone has been charged.
The man says the investigation has made no progress in nearly 10 days. He wants the hunters and the video recordings checked, and the weapon identified.
By his reading of the law, illegal hunting of a deer carries up to 1 year in prison. The damage for a deer is €1,023 (2,000 leva) (€1,022.58), and the fine is triple that, €3,068 (6,000 leva) (€3,067.75). For a doe, the damage is 3,000 leva (€1,533.88) and the minimum fine is 9,000 leva (€4,601.63). Offenders can lose their hunting rights for up to 3 years, and under the Hunting and Game Protection Act the weapons and vehicles used in illegal hunting must be confiscated. The man believes anyone who shields the culprit is criminally liable for concealment or complicity.