The reward for information in Indiana’s recent fatal shooting of an endangered whooping crane has grown to $10,000.
The 5-year-old female crane was found dead Jan. 3 near the Goose Pond State Fish and Wildlife Area, apparently killed by a high-powered rifle.
WTHI-TV reports local and national groups are now offering funds for information leading to an arrest in the rare bird’s killing.
Operation Migration is offering $3,500 and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Friends of Goose Pond are offering $2,500 apiece.
The International Crane Foundation and Indiana’s Turn in a Poacher program have offered $1,500.
Whooping cranes are North America’s tallest bird, standing 5 feet tall. Hunting and habitat loss cut their number to less than 20 in the 1940s, but that’s grown to about 600.