Second Klickitat Wolf Poached; $10,000 Reward For Info

Federal and state wildlife officials say another gray wolf was illegally killed in Southcentral Washington’s Klickitat County, this one in mid-December, and there’s a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest, criminal conviction or civil penalty.

The adult male wolf was the last member of the Big Muddy Pack, according to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service press release, and its death was investigated by WDFW on December 17 northeast of the town of Trout Lake. Wolves in this part of the state are both federally and state listed as endangered.

It follows on the early fall shooting of another adult male wolf near Goldendale.

In today’s news release, USWFS offered more details on that September or October incident, saying the animal “died from a gunshot wound that led to its starvation over the course of days or possibly weeks after it dragged itself to a water source without the use of its back legs.”

Anyone with information on this latest case is asked to call the USFWS TIPs line at (844) 397-8477 or go to https://www.fws.gov/wildlife-crime-tips, or call WDFW at (877) 933-9847 or email reportpoaching@dfw.wa.gov.

In related Northwest wolf news, an ODFW press release yesterday detailed some $131,400 in reward money being offered for information on the deaths of eight wolves across Oregon over the past year or so, as well as two golden eagles that were poisoned along with three of those wolves.