Reward offered in elk’s death

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. (AP) – A nonprofit is offering a $1,000 reward for information about the death of a nearly 9-year-old elk killed in a nature preserve near Tahlequah.

The Tulsa World reports (http://bit.ly/1V16zgu ) that the Nature Conservancy will give the reward to anyone who provides information leading to an arrest and conviction of those who killed a bull elk named Hollywood in the J.T. Nickel Preserve.

The Nature Conservancy owns the preserve and says that the elk was killed sometime over the weekend. The poachers cut off the animal’s head and removed part of its hindquarters.

Hunting isn’t permitted at the J.T. Nickel Preserve. The 17,000-acre land is home to a herd of elk introduced to the area in 2005.