Collared female wolf fatally shot in Oregon, police offering $11,500 reward
A collared female wolf was fatally shot in Oregon — and state police are offering a $11,500 reward for information leading to an arrest.
On Oct. 3, state Fish and Wildlife troopers were told by the agency a wolf tagged as OR88 might be dead near Little Lookout Mountain, about 9 miles from Durkee in northeast Oregon, state police said Wednesday.
Fish and Wildlife troopers and personnel responded, finding the wolf’s carcass on Bureau of Land Management property.
Troopers believe the black female wolf, which was part of the Lookout Mountain pack, was shot there Oct. 2.
In Oregon last year, wildlife troopers found eight dead wolves in same region.
The animals were all poisoned, but the deaths remain unsolved and rewards also have been offered for tips leading to convictions.
Six wolves found dead in northeast Washington earlier this year were also poisoned, with a reward in that case offered as well, officials said last week.
There were a minimum of 206 wolves and 33 packs in Washington state in 2021, according to an annual survey conducted by state and tribal biologists. Idaho had about 1,500 wolves, while Oregon had about 173 at the time.
The majority of the US wolf population was wiped out in the 1930s through government-sponsored poisoning and trapping campaigns.
With Post wires
