LOS ANGELES (AP) — The reward now totals $15,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the shooting death of an endangered California condor.
The condor was found with a gunshot wound in July on private property near the Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge in Kern County. The bird later died.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service initially offered a $5,000 reward and the Center for Biological Diversity tripled it on Monday.
California condors are one of the world's largest birds with a wingspan up to 10 feet. Three decades after being pushed to the brink of extinction, the species is making a comeback in the wild.
Condors are protected under California law and the federal Engendered Species Act.
