State and federal authorities have opened an investigation into the apparent killings of three gray wolves in Bly, Ore., in Klamath County.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is offering a $50,000 reward for any information that leads to an arrest, a criminal conviction, or civil penalty.

The region that stretches across Klamath and Lake counties in southern Oregon is an area of known wolf activity, and the collars of two gray wolves showed a mortality signal on Dec. 29, federal officials said. State officials found the two collared animals – a breeding female and a subadult – and an uncollared subadult, all dead.

Gray wolves are listed as endangered in the western two-thirds of Oregon. Fish and Wildlife is investigating the deaths in cooperation with the Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife Division and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, according to a release issued Feb. 9.

Anyone with information about this case should call the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at (503) 682-6131, or the Oregon State Police Dispatch at (800) 452-7888, *OSP (*677) or email [email protected]. Callers may remain anonymous.

Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service