State charges wildlife center owner with animal cruelty

Haines resident Steve Kroschel says he’s in Russia and unsure if he’ll return to face the charges

Steve Kroschel points to the signs on the front gate to his wildlife center on Aug. 6, 2024. (Rashah McChesney/Chilkat Valley News)

By Will Steinfeld

Chilkat Valley News

State prosecutors on Thursday charged Haines resident Steve Kroschel, longtime owner of the Kroschel Films Wildlife Center, with multiple counts of animal cruelty. The charges include three Class C felonies, which each carry a penalty of up to $50,000 and 5 years in prison. 

Two of the felony charges center around what prosecutors say were preventable deaths of animals: a moose in 2023 and a porcupine in 2024. Statements in the charging documents attributed to a biologist and a veterinarian from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game argue the likely causes of death were starvation or “improper diets.”  

The third felony charge concerns the condition of a brown bear seized by Alaska Wildlife Troopers on June 26,  while executing a search warrant on Kroschel’s property. According to charging documents, a Fish and Game wildlife veterinarian who was present, Annette Roug, stated that the bear had multiple “inflamed, infected skin abrasions” and active tooth infections. 

Kroschel is due at the Haines courthouse October 8 for his arraignment, but he said he’s currently in Yekaterinburg, Russia, and is unsure if he will return. Alaska Assistant Attorney General Matthew Kaste said Friday that next steps, in the event Kroschel is not in the country for his arraignment, will be determined by the judge presiding over the case.  

According to the court documents, Alaska Wildlife Troopers opened an investigation in November of 2024 after the agency got a report from Fish and Game alleging 29 animal deaths over the previous five years at the wildlife center.

Court documents refer to a necropsy from a Washington State University laboratory following the 2024 death of a porcupine — one of the felony charges — showing the animal to be “severely underweight.” 

A Fish and Game biologist is quoted as saying the porcupine weighed only half of what would have been expected in an adult female porcupine. 

Kroschel said Friday that for all the animal deaths cited in the charging documents, there was “not one thing (he) could have done to extend their lives.” 

“That porcupine died of old age,” Kroschel said. “There was loss of muscle tissue and fat because that’s how old rodents die.”

The charging documents go beyond just recent deaths, describing over a decade of discussions between state and federal regulators and Kroschel about conditions at the wildlife center.

Going back to 2010, the charging documents describe seven letters sent to Kroschel and six inspections of the facility that registered concerns from regulators. Kroschel was informed of the need to improve facility cleanliness, drinking water conditions, animal diets and veterinary care, but prosecutors allege that he failed to do so. 

Troopers are also alleging that Kroschel admitted to not having sufficient funds to purchase food. 

According to the charging documents, staff at another wildlife facility in the Chilkat Valley made a 2019 report to Fish and Game and the USDA saying Kroschel and his staff were frequently asking for food to feed the animals at his facility. 

State wildlife veterinarian Kimberlee Beckmen provided a statement to investigators describing conversations with Kroschel after the 2009 deaths of two wolves at the facility. Prosecutors say the statement included Kroschel telling Beckmen that he “gave the wolves donated food that was spoiled since he could not afford to buy food.”

Kroschel unequivocally denies this claim. He confirmed Friday that the wolf did die after eating donated food, but called it a “bald-faced lie” that he ever underfed animals due to lack of money. He attributed the wolf death to state-mandated vaccinations. 

“I have never talked to (Beckmen), I have never met her, I don’t know what she looks like,” Kroschel said. 

As a whole, Kroschel says he made none of the major mistakes outlined by prosecutors. But he nevertheless sees no way of winning the legal fight due to what he called a “rigged” state judicial system.

“There’s something about animal cruelty that really resonates with people, and it’s the worst thing you could possibly accuse me of,” Kroschel said. “Now they’re probably going to take away my whole life’s work.”

Meanwhile, the majority of the 25 animals the state seized from Kroschel’s facility in June are in long-term placements at facilities around the state and country. 

According to Fish and Game records, 19 — including two wolves, the brown bear, a wolverine, and a snowy owl — are at their final destinations. Another snowy owl, three foxes and two minks are still in transition facilities.  

“A few animals still require some veterinary care, and we are staying in close contact with facilities holding these,” Fish and Game division of wildlife conservation Ryan Scott wrote in an email Friday.

There are a number of animals currently at Kroschel’s Chilkat Valley facility that were left behind during the state’s raid. Kroschel and his staff estimated about 20 animals had been left behind, while state records show 14, including 5 ermine, 3 arctic fox, 3 martens, 2 minks and a snowy owl still at the facility. 

“We are still working on plans to secure the remaining animals, but nothing is set at this point,” Scott wrote.

• This article was originally published by the Chilkat Valley News