The Center for Biological Diversity is offering a $10,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for dragging a litter of wolf pups from their den (some 15 miles from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho) and killing them.

Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center says: “A poisonous, anti-wolf culture has taken root in Idaho, driven by seasonal wolf hunts and fueled by social media sites dedicated to wolf-killing braggadocio. This latest pup-killing incident was almost inevitable.

“Sadly this kind of poaching reflects a growing body of research showing that in places like Idaho, which allows legal hunting and the trapping of wolves, social tolerance for wolves decreases and illegal poaching is often the result. We need to end this kind of violence, oppose wolf hunting and restore respect for the place of wolves in the wild.

“Wolves are intelligent, highly social animals that deserve better than to have their youngest pulled from their dens and wiped out. The war on wolves has gone too far this time and we need your help”

The Center, which has worked for over two decades now to save two endangered species and wildlands, has launched a new Wolf Defense Fund to help raise the reward money.