SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday announced a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a person who shot dead an endangered gray wolf in 2018 in Northern California.
The male wolf, known as OR-59, was wearing tracking collar when it was fatally shot December 2018 with a .22 caliber bullet along County Road 91 in Modoc County, the service said.
The gray wolf is listed as endangered throughout portions of its habitat, including California, under the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973. Taking, shooting, injuring, or killing a wolf are violations of the ESA, and carry a maximum penalty for a criminal violation of one year in jail and a $100,000 fine per individual, it said.
Anyone with information about the shooting is urged to contact the service’s Sacramento office.