Latest news with #DeschutesCounty
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Officials offer $30,000 reward after body of endangered wolf turns up in remote wilderness: 'Any illegal killing of these magnificent animals is tragic'
Wildlife officials have called for information after discovering the body of a deceased endangered animal. According to The Bradenton Herald, in a report published by the body of an adult male gray wolf was found on March 10 in Deschutes County, Oregon. Because the gray wolf is a federally protected species in the state, multiple agencies are offering rewards for any information about the incident. The Center for Biological Diversity and the Wolf Welcome Committee are offering $10,500, while the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is offering $10,000. The Oregon Wildlife Coalition is also involved, as it offers a reward of $10,000 for details whenever someone illegally kills a gray wolf. Altogether, the total reward comes to $30,500. Per the Herald, Amaroq Weiss, the senior wolf advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity, stated in a news release, "Any illegal killing of these magnificent animals is tragic, but the poaching of the Metolius pack's breeding male may have consigned the pack's pups to death by starvation or the pack to dissolve." While not all gray wolves in the state are considered endangered, ones found in certain areas, like this particular animal, were relisted as such under the Endangered Species Act in 2022. The illegal killing of these animals increases the risk of them becoming extinct, especially since killing a single one can have negative consequences for the rest of the pack, as Weiss explained. As predators, wolves play an important role in balancing an ecosystem. As the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife detailed, wolves can keep the number of grazing animals, like elk, low enough to help protect the local vegetation from being ravaged. Overgrazing occurred in Yellowstone National Park early last century, but once officials reintroduced wolves to the landscape in 1995, some woody browse species began to reemerge, according to research published in the journal Biological Conservation, shared by ScienceDirect. Should the government be paying people to hunt invasive species? Definitely Depends on the animal No way Just let people do it for free Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. The loss of vegetation alone is enough for concern, but the loss of plant life may also worsen riverbank erosion, affecting the number of fish found in rivers. Wolves are also responsible for helping to feed other wildlife. While wolves are protective of any kills they make, the carcasses they leave behind can be food sources for vultures, raccoons, foxes, and more. Luckily, wolves now have many agencies that advocate on their behalf. Officials have asked anyone with information about the illegal killing of this gray wolf to email TIP@ or call the Oregon State Police Dispatch at 800-452-7888 or the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service at 503-682-6131. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
CBC
08-05-2025
- CBC
Whitehorse man faces extradition to U.S. on murder, robbery charges in Oregon
A Whitehorse man faces possible extradition to the U.S. to stand trial for allegedly killing a woman in Oregon. Cole Sinclair, 25, was arrested in Whitehorse last December on a warrant issued under the federal Extradition Act. He faces nine charges in central Oregon's Deschutes County in relation to the 2023 death of Evelyn Weaver, including first-degree murder, robbery, burglary and unauthorized use of a vehicle. The U.S. has requested that he be extradited for prosecution. Weaver, 28, was found dead in her home in Bend, Oregon — approximately 257 kilometres southeast of Portland — on July 18, 2023, according to a police bulletin, with investigators locating her abandoned SUV two days later in Klamath Falls near the California border. The court file in the U.S., including the indictment, is under a sealing order, with the Deschutes County district attorney's office, local court staff and the Bend Police Department refusing to comment on or confirm the existence of any charges against Sinclair. The extradition file against Sinclair in Canada, which is being handled by the Yukon Supreme Court, is also largely sealed. CBC News was able to access a handful of documents this week that confirmed several details about the case. The documents included a Dec. 13, 2024, application filed by the Attorney General of Canada on behalf of the U.S. for the "issuance of a warrant for the provisional arrest" of Sinclair. The U.S. requested his arrest, the application says, "with a view to his extradition to the State of Oregon to be prosecuted" for alleged offences including murder. Sinclair, at the time, was living in a Whitehorse treatment facility after being found not criminally responsible on account of suffering from an untreated psychotic disorder for charges related to attempted armed break-ins in the city's Whistle Bend neighbourhood in April 2023 and subsequent bail breaches. Court documents from that case show that the breaches included Sinclair leaving the Yukon between July 1 and 26, 2023, when he was required to remain in the territory. Police arrested Sinclair on the extradition-related warrant on Dec. 17, 2024. Sinclair to oppose extradition request Sinclair's lawyer in Whitehorse, Vincent Larochelle, made an application in January for several sealing orders and publication bans on allegations and evidence that could be presented during extradition proceedings. As part of that, he filed a letter of support from Sinclair's lawyer in Oregon, Todd Grover. In the letter, which is partially redacted, Grover lists the charges Sinclair faces in Deschutes County, including three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree robbery, and one count first-degree burglary and unauthorized use of a vehicle. "The charged offenses [sic] stem from the tragic death of Deschutes County, Oregon resident Evelyn Weaver on or about July 14, 2023," the letter reads in part. "Ms. Weaver's death — and the resulting investigation by Oregon law enforcement — spawned a handful of media accounts … Critically, however, Mr. Sinclair had not at the time been connected by investigators to Ms. Weaver's death." None of the publicly available documents explain how or when investigators came to identify Sinclair as a suspect in the case and why it took more than a year before they sought his arrest. Both Larochelle and Grover, via a staff member in his office, declined requests for comment about the case, though Larochelle confirmed that Sinclair would be opposing the extradition request. A date for the extradition hearing has yet to be set.
