FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — An Arizona man has pleaded guilty to shooting and killing an endangered Mexican gray wolf.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Friday that Jason William Kunkel, of Peoria, Arizona, was sentenced to five years of unsupervised probation after pleading guilty to the slaying of a Mexican wolf in December 2017.
Federal authorities say Kunkel shot and killed a wild-born, female Mexican wolf in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest.
Under the terms of his probation, Kunkel is banned from hunting and banned from the National Forests of Arizona.
He also had to forfeit his Remington Model 770, bolt action rifle with a scope to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The most recent survey showed there were at least 114 endangered Mexican wolves in the wild in Arizona and New Mexico.