Authorities in Montana are investigating a suspected wolf-poaching incident that occurred recently near Yellowstone National Park.
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks stated Wednesday that the wolf was killed near Mol Heron and Cinnabar creeks northwest of Gardiner on Jan. 27.
Gardiner is just outside Yellowstone’s North Entrance.
FWP spokesman Morgan Jacobsen, citing an active investigation, did not provide details regarding how the wolf was killed or whether it had belonged to a pack that lives mostly inside the park.
“I can confirm that a wolf died likely as a result of a poaching incident a few miles north of Yellowstone National Park,” Jacobsen told FTW Outdoors. “And Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is conducting an investigation.”
The Yellowstone National Park Public Affairs Office also declined to provide details, citing the FWP investigation.
News From The States reports that the wolf was killed inside Montana’s Wolf Management Unit 313, where a hunting quota of six wolves was filled by Dec. 27.
All six wolves, as a Yellowstone National Park spokeswoman recently confirmed to FTW Outdoors, “belonged to packs that spend the majority of their lives inside Yellowstone National Park and have territories largely within the park.”
FWP is seeking help from the public as part of its investigation. Anyone with potentially helpful information is asked to visit myfwp.mt.gov/fwpPub/tipmont or call 1-800-TIP-MONT.
Informants could be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.
–Generic Yellowstone wolf image courtesy of the National Park Service