BATON ROUGE - Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Enforcement Division agents are looking for leads regarding two endangered whooping cranes that appear to have been shot and killed in Acadia Parish.

The department said in a news release Thursday the cranes were found just south of Rayne off of Louisiana Highway 35 on May 20.  The cranes were recovered and sent to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service forensics lab.

The state says up to $9,000 is being offered by various groups for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the illegal killing of these whooping cranes.

Anyone with information regarding the deaths of the two whooping cranes should call the Louisiana Operation Game Thief hotline at 1-800-442-2511.