Reward posted in shooting death of wolf

A $15,000 reward has been offered in the case of a federally protected wolf that was shot and killed near Salmon la Sac, Washington.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials confirmed Wednesday that a female gray wolf from the Teanaway pack in Upper Kittitas County died last month after being shot in the hindquarters.

Conservation groups announced the reward for information in the case on Friday.

The carcass of the breeding female recovered Oct. 28 was found on the north side of the Paris Creek drainage in the Salmon la Sac area north of Lake Cle Elum, said Brent Lawrence with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Portland. The area is within the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest.

The wolf was fitted with a radio telemetry collar and was recovered by state and federal wildlife officials.

Gray wolves in the western two-thirds of the state (with U.S. Highway 97 the boundary) are protected by the federal Endangered Species Act and a similar state law, Lawrence said.

The Teanaway wolf’s carcass was in the area where wolves continue to be under both state and federal protection.

East of the highway, wolves have been taken off the federal endangered list but continue to be protected by state law.

Groups contributing to the $15,000 reward include Conservation Northwest, the Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, Woodland Park Zoo and the Humane Society of the United States.

In February, after a wolf was found dead in northeast Stevens County, conservation groups joined with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to offer a $22,500 reward. That case remains unsolved.