Anonymous Donor Gives $32K For Reward To Catch Whoever Is Killing Wild Mojave Burros

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- An anonymous donor has given more than $30,000 to fund a reward for information that leads to whoever has killed more than 40 protected wild burros in the Southern California desert.

The Humane Society announced Monday a donor from its burro protection initiative, the Platero Project, contributed $32,500, increasing the total to more than $50,000. The Humane Society donated $2,500.

Forty-two burros with gunshot wounds have been found along a 60-mile (95-kilometer) stretch of Interstate 15 in the Mojave Desert since May.

Killing a protected burro is punishable by a $2,000 fine and a year in jail.

Rewards of $2,500, $5,000 and $1,000 are offered, respectively, by the American Wild Horse Campaign, Return to Freedom and The Cloud Foundation organizations. The Bureau of Land Management is offering $10,000.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press.