SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. _ A wildlife group has tripled the reward to help convict the killer or killers of two endangered California condors found shot dead in the last three months.
As a result of the two shootings, the Center for Biological Diversity is offering a $15,000 reward for anyone providing information that leads to an arrest and conviction for the two shootings.
Federal law enforcement officials are hunting for whoever is responsible.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced in September that a condor was found shot dead in Tulare County in May, according to a statement from the Center for Biological Diversity.
A second condor was found fatally shot in Kern County in July. The agency had originally offered a $5,000 reward.
The California condor is protected by both state and federal law, and there are only a few hundred of the birds in the wild.
Anyone with information about either shooting is encouraged to contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's law enforcement office in Sacramento at 916-569-8476.
