Bodies of four male sea otters, a
federally protected animal whose killing can be punishable with jail time,
washed up on beaches over course of eight days
Julia
Carrie Wong in San Francisco
Wednesday 31 August
2016 21.59 BSTLast modified on Wednesday 31 August 201622.35 BST
Federal and state officials are
investigating the shooting deaths of California sea
otters, after the bodies of four male otters were found washed up on beaches
near Santa Cruz.
On Monday, the US Fish and
Wildlife Service announced a $10,000
reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction
of the person responsible for killing three sea otters that were found between
12-19 August.
A fourth otter carcass was
discovered on 20 August with a suspected gunshot wound, Ashley Spratt of the
Fish and Wildlife Service
said on Wednesday.
“Finding several gunshot sea
otters at the same general location during such a short time frame is very
unusual,” said Spratt.
“We don’t know why these otters
were shot, but what’s important to note is that killing or harassing federally
protected wildlife is a crime.”
Sea otters are protected by the
Marine Mammal Protection Act, California state law and the Endangered Species
Act. Killing a sea otter is punishable by fines up to $100,000 and could result
in a jail sentence.
Sea otters were once widespread
along the Pacific coast, but the mammals were hunted almost to extinction for
their pelts during the 18th and 19th centuries.
In 1977, California’s remaining
sea otters were listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act.
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