An entire herd of caribou in Labrador may have been wiped out last week, says Newfoundland and Labrador's environment minister.

Minister of Environment and Conservation Perry Trimper said Friday an illegal hunt may have killed every single remaining animal in the Joir River caribou herd, located in southern Labrador.

"We're not sure right now exactly how many animals have been taken," he said.

"When we talk about the few that are in this herd...it's very possible that every one has been removed because of this action."

Trimper would not say who the government believes is responsible for the hunt, but a lawyer who represents the nearby Pakua Shipi Innu in Quebec said hunters killed about 35 animals over the last week.

Ban ignored

Hunting caribou in Labrador is banned, but the Pakua Shipi Innu have continued to hunt in the area, ignoring warnings and some charges from the provincial government.

Lawyer François Lévesque doesn't believe this latest hunt wiped out the herd's population.

"The Newfoundland and Labrador government said that back in 2009 and 2011," he said. "So it's been wiped out many times, eh?"

What you did for a thousands years was legal, and for the last twenty years it is illegal? I don't know. - François Lévesque

Conservation officers with the province got word of the hunt on Sunday, but were not able to reach the area until Wednesday.

By the time they returned with more enforcement officers on Thursday, the hunters had left.

The province says about 60 animals were in the Joir River herd before this latest hunt, but Lévesque claims it's closer to 2,000.

He said that the Puaka Shipi Innu continue to hunt the herd because their people still need to eat.

"What if [I] put a ban on food?" he asked. "What you did for thousands of years was legal, and for the last twenty years it is illegal? I don't know."

The Puaka Shipi Innu of Quebec have continued to hunt the Joir River caribou herd in Labrador, despite bans by the provincial government. (CBC)

Minister frustrated

Trimper, who worked as a wildlife biologist and studied this particular herd before he was elected to government, says he finds the continued hunt of the Joir River herd very troubling.

"We can't seem to convince folks that they're soon going to have no future," he told CBC.

"You're breaking the law, you seem to have no [regard] for the resources at all, but I question what these people think they're going to do in the future once they've shot everything out of there."

For his part, Lévesque said he believes that industrial development in the area has done more damage to caribou populations than any Innu hunting.

The government said an attitude shift is needed in the area.

Lévesque said the Puaka Shipi Innu are open to talking, but feel they are "talking to a wall."