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$5,000 Reward Offered for Information on Illegal Killing of Gray Wolf Near Klamath Falls, Oregon
Division of Public Affairs
OR33 Credit: USFWS and ODFW
PORTLAND, Ore. — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person(s) responsible for killing a federally protected gray wolf in south-central Oregon.
On April 23, 2017, a canid carcass was found about 20 miles northwest of Klamath Falls on Fremont-Winema National Forest. The carcass was sent to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Forensics Labs in Ashland, Oregon, for a necropsy, which determined that it was a male gray wolf known as OR-33, and that it died from gunshot wounds. The Service does not have an estimated date of when it was shot.
OR-33 dispersed from the Imnaha Pack in northeastern Oregon in November 2015, and was not known to be part of any pack. The approximately 4-year-old wolf had a collar, but it quit transmitting in August 2016.
It is a violation of the Endangered Species Act to kill a gray wolf, which is listed as endangered in the western two-thirds of Oregon. It is also a violation of Oregon state game laws. The Oregon State Police and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are investigating the incident.
Anyone with information about this case should call the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at (503) 682-6131, or Oregon State Police Tip Line at (800) 452-7888. Callers may remain anonymous.
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