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courtesy dlnr
An undated photo of RF58 with mom RH58. The pup was found dead in
A reward for information leading to the conviction of the person or persons responsible for the killing of a young female Hawaiian monk seal in Anahola on Kauai has doubled.
Due to contributions from the Humane Society of the United States, Conservation Council of Hawaii, Center for Biological Diversity and the Monk Seal Foundation, the reward is now $10,000.
The initial reward offered Tuesday was $5,000.
In a news release issued Wednesday, William Aila, chairman of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, said, “The support these organizations are providing to help identify, arrest and convict the individual(s) responsible for this heinous act is invaluable in raising public awareness.”
Identified as RF58, the female monk seal was born June 28 near Larsen’s Beach on Kauai. She was found dead Sunday on a beach in Anahola, bludgeoned on the side of the head. A necropsy revealed RF58 died from blunt force trauma and internal bleeding.
The organizations are also offering $10,000 rewards for information on four other suspicious monk seal deaths — two on Kauai and two on Molokai — that occurred from November 2011 to April 2012.
Anyone with information on the monk seal deaths is urged to call the DLNR Tipline at 1-855-DLNR-TIP.
