A government agency is offering a $50,000 prize for information regarding the deaths of three endangered gray wolves from the same pack in southern Oregon.
The collars of two gray wolves generated a mortality signal on December 29. State wildlife officers responded and discovered three dead wolves, two with collars and one without, according to a statement from the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
The collared wolves were an adult breeding female and a subadult from the Gearhart Mountain Pack. The other wolf killed was a subadult.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife reports seven wolves left in the pack, including a breeding male.
In their statement, officials did not say how the wolves died. A phone message left on Saturday for more information was not immediately returned.
Gray wolves are protected under federal law, the Endangered Species Act. It is prohibited to injure or kill them. The reward is offered for information that leads to an arrest, criminal conviction, or a fine.
Gray wolves are categorized as endangered in the western two-thirds of Oregon.
The three wolves were killed east of Bly in Klamath County, southern Oregon, approximately 310 miles (499 kilometers) southeast of Portland. They were in a region where wolves are known to live, spanning Klamath and Lake counties just north of the Oregon-California boundary.