Federal agents search for killer in latest reintroduced wolf death

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Friday announced a $1,500 reward for information about the wolf killing south of Yellowstone National Park. Reward notices have been published in regional newspapers.

The dead wolf was spotted near the edge of a county road by a passing motorist on February 11, but officials with the law enforcement branch of Fish and Wildlife only recently confirmed that the wolf was illegally killed.

Because the death is still under investigation, officials will not say exactly how the wolf died, although preliminary information suggests the animal may have been shot to death.

"It helps us when we interview people to determine whether they're being truthful or deceptive," said Dominic Domenici, a supervisor for the FWS law enforcement program.

Of the 29 wolves released in the northern U.S. Rocky Mountains since January, 1995, this is the third wolf to be killed illegally. In October, Montana resident Chad McKittrick was convicted for the April shooting of a reintroduced male wolf near Red Lodge, Montana. He now faces a $100,000 fine and up to two years in prison. Another wolf was found dead on an Idaho ranch soon after the wolves were released, but charges have not yet been filed.

The controversial program to reintroduce the endangered gray wolf to the region has been angrily opposed by ranching interests in the area since its inception. A second group of wolves--37 in all--was transplanted from Canada to parts of central Idaho and Yellowstone earlier this year.

This story written by Sarah McCormic of the Outside Online staff