Washington, D.C. – Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva, who co-chairs the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands, today applauded the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) on its recently announced investigation of the murder of several endangered grey wolves in Arizona. The agency last week discovered the third dead Mexican wolf in the past month and has said the killings are being treated as intentional, which would be a violation of the Endangered Species Act.

According to FWS information, the carcass of a male wolf was found northeast of Arizona’s Big Lake within 2 miles of where the carcass of another wolf from the Hawks Nest Pack was found on June 18. The pack traditionally uses the area east of Big Lake on the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests as its spring and summer breeding territory.

“This cannot be allowed to continue, and I support FWS’ decision to pursue it with all available resources,” Grijalva said. “There’s a lot of land to cover and not many people to do it. I encourage FWS to make full use of the Office of Law Enforcement to see these killings are stopped.”

FWS is putting more food out for pups living in packs where an alpha head has been killed. The agency is concerned that reintroduction of grey wolves to the region is threatened by the killings.

The Service is offering a reward of up to $10,000 and the Arizona Game and Fish Department Operation Game Thief is offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to the apprehension of the individual(s) responsible for the death of this wolf. Persons reporting information may remain anonymous upon request.

Anyone with information that could be helpful in identifying the person or people involved in illegally shooting a Mexican wolf is urged to contact the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s Operation Game Thief at (800) 352-0700 or the FWS Office of Law Enforcement at (928) 339-4232.