Wildlife Officials Offer Rewards in Multiple Oregon Gray Wolf Poachings

Published 01/23/26 at 5:55 a.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Portland, Oregon) – A string of poaching incidents in Oregon have wildlife officials concerned and increasingly publicizing rewards for information leading to the arrest of any suspects.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFW) and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) are reporting more illegal killings of gray wolves.

This past week, USFW officials said they are investigating the illegal killing of a federally protected gray wolf in Lake County, near the Klamath County line in Oregon’s Yamsay Mountain area.

The agency says the wolf, a radio-collared male known as OR186, was found dead on public land on October 7, 2025, roughly 10 miles from Jackson Creek and Upper Buck Creek campgrounds. Because gray wolves west of Highway 395 are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, the Service is offering up to $10,000 for information leading to an arrest, conviction, or civil penalty.

There are numerous others still being sought by Oregon officials.

“From February through March 2024, Oregon State Police Fish & Wildlife Troopers located the remains of a female gray wolf, a male gray wolf, a juvenile gray wolf, two golden eagles, a cougar and a coyote in the Lightning Creek drainage, which is a tributary to the Imnaha River,” ODFW said.

Other incidents with rewards:

Prairie City: A $12,100 reward or five ODFW preference points is offered for information on a yearling wolf shot from a roadway south of Prairie City around May 18-19, 2024.

Wallowa County: A $38,700 reward is available for tips on the poisoning of three wolves and two golden eagles found between February and March 2024 near Imnaha in the Lightning Creek drainage.

Bly: A $60,000 reward is offered for information on three endangered wolves found dead east of Bly on Dec. 29, 2023, including two members of the Gearhart Mountain Pack.

Anyone with information about any of these cases should call the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at (503) 682-6131, or the Oregon State Police Dispatch at (800) 452-7888, or the Turn In Poachers TIP Line at *OSP (*677) or email TIP@osp.oregon.gov. Callers may remain anonymous.

In the Oregon Coast Range, only a small trace of the gray wolf has been found, with just a handful of tracks reported back in 2022.

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