Wildlife officials in Labrador have confirmed that an Innu hunter has been arrested for poaching an animal in a protected group of caribou.

The Department of Natural Resources has confirmed that its conservation officers arrested one hunter on Wednesday, who had been hunting in the Birchy Lakes area. A group of Quebec hunters had moved into the area earlier this week.

Officials hired a helicopter on Thursday to fly the man back to Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

Dozens of Innu from both Labrador and Quebec have ignored government warnings and proceed to hunt caribou in closed zones this winter. The Labrador Innu argue that they can distinguish animals that are not protected under threatened species legislation from the rest and kill only those.

Conservation officers seized the hunter's snowmobile, rifle and the remains of one caribou.

Earlier this month, Innu hunters from Quebec killed almost half of the protected caribou in another area, near the Joir River.

At the time, Natural Resources Minister Kathy Dunderdale said it was too dangerous for conservation officers to intervene and arrest the hunters. The confrontation ended when the Quebec hunters, who both dispute the caribou count and claim the animals are on their ancestral lands, returned home.

The investigation into that hunt is ongoing.

So far no charges have been laid in that case.

In January, Labrador Innu began a hunt east of Churchill Falls, arguing that its members would be able to distinguish the threatened Red Wine herd — which has been pegged at having just 85 animals — from a larger herd.