spectr17
12-28-2002, 07:02 PM
2nd Wolf in Utah? State Officials Aren't Sure
BY BRENT ISRAELSEN, THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
12/21/02
The day after federal wildlife officials removed an endangered gray wolf from Utah, a second lupine creature was caught in a coyote trap in Rich County, about 20 miles away.
State wildlife officials are downplaying the possibility that the second animal, which escaped before they could tranquilize it for examination, was a wolf.
But, according to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Web site, "Another gray wolf was accidentally caught" in Utah.
The discrepancy between skepticism of the state Division of Wildlife Resources and the FWS Web site announcement is the result of Utah's more conservative criteria in speculating whether an animal is a wolf, explained Adam Kozlowski, sensitive-species coordinator for the DWR.
Kozlowski said the animal "was most likely a hybrid."
Wolf hybrids are a cross between domestic dogs and wild wolves. Common in western Wyoming, hybrids often can be distinguished only by DNA or a close examination of the skull.
The animal in question escaped as a DWR conservation officer, untrained in wolf identification, approached it to get a closer look.
Kozlowski said the animal -- as witnessed by the officer around 6 p.m., after dark -- had a typical wolf appearance and coloring but weighed 80 to 100 pounds, slightly on the low side of a full-grown wolf. Its body was thicker and legs shorter than would be expected for a wolf.
But, said Kozlowski, the officer "was struck by the size of its paws." Wolf paws are about twice the size of a coyote's and larger than most domestic dogs.
Given the animal's characteristics and proximity to a region known to have wolf hybrids, Kozlowski said he does not believe the animal was a wolf.
"But it's hard to say," he quickly added.
The wolflike creature in question walked into a trap southwest of Woodruff on Dec. 3, three days after the much-publicized capture of the gray wolf that wandered into Utah from Yellowstone National Park.
The Yellowstone wolf, identified by its collar as No. 253, was caught in a coyote trap northwest of Morgan. A second set of wolf prints was found near the trap, leading biologists to speculate the two wolves were mates attempting to establish a pack in Utah.
The captured wolf was released in Grand Teton National Park on Dec. 2. On Friday, Yellowstone biologists reported it had reunited with its clan, the Druid Peak pack, in the northeastern part of the park known as the Lamar Valley -- about 70 miles from Grand Teton and more than 200 miles from where it was caught in Utah.
The wolf's foray into Utah confirmed for the first time that wolves, exterminated 70 years ago by ranchers, have returned to Utah.
Experts say it likely was not the first time, nor will it be the last, that wolves from packs in Idaho and Wyoming venture into the deer- and elk-rich mountains of Utah.
As a result, DWR appears to be taking wolf issues more seriously.
Craig McLaughlin, the agency's mammals coordinator, was in Helena, Mont., this week to attend the annual meeting of the federally led team that is re-establishing wolf populations in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.
"I'm getting updated on details, on numbers of [wolves] and how they are doing inside and outside the park," said McLaughlin. "We're also trying to work through how we handle any future wolves in Utah."
Environmentalists, who are forming a coalition to bring the wolf back to Utah, cheered the news that the DWR is becoming more engaged in the issue.
"To me, it indicates the state is going to start moving on putting together a wolf recovery plan," said Allison Jones, an ecologist for the Utah Wild Project. "They've been dragging their heels. They need to get their act together.
BY BRENT ISRAELSEN, THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
12/21/02
The day after federal wildlife officials removed an endangered gray wolf from Utah, a second lupine creature was caught in a coyote trap in Rich County, about 20 miles away.
State wildlife officials are downplaying the possibility that the second animal, which escaped before they could tranquilize it for examination, was a wolf.
But, according to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Web site, "Another gray wolf was accidentally caught" in Utah.
The discrepancy between skepticism of the state Division of Wildlife Resources and the FWS Web site announcement is the result of Utah's more conservative criteria in speculating whether an animal is a wolf, explained Adam Kozlowski, sensitive-species coordinator for the DWR.
Kozlowski said the animal "was most likely a hybrid."
Wolf hybrids are a cross between domestic dogs and wild wolves. Common in western Wyoming, hybrids often can be distinguished only by DNA or a close examination of the skull.
The animal in question escaped as a DWR conservation officer, untrained in wolf identification, approached it to get a closer look.
Kozlowski said the animal -- as witnessed by the officer around 6 p.m., after dark -- had a typical wolf appearance and coloring but weighed 80 to 100 pounds, slightly on the low side of a full-grown wolf. Its body was thicker and legs shorter than would be expected for a wolf.
But, said Kozlowski, the officer "was struck by the size of its paws." Wolf paws are about twice the size of a coyote's and larger than most domestic dogs.
Given the animal's characteristics and proximity to a region known to have wolf hybrids, Kozlowski said he does not believe the animal was a wolf.
"But it's hard to say," he quickly added.
The wolflike creature in question walked into a trap southwest of Woodruff on Dec. 3, three days after the much-publicized capture of the gray wolf that wandered into Utah from Yellowstone National Park.
The Yellowstone wolf, identified by its collar as No. 253, was caught in a coyote trap northwest of Morgan. A second set of wolf prints was found near the trap, leading biologists to speculate the two wolves were mates attempting to establish a pack in Utah.
The captured wolf was released in Grand Teton National Park on Dec. 2. On Friday, Yellowstone biologists reported it had reunited with its clan, the Druid Peak pack, in the northeastern part of the park known as the Lamar Valley -- about 70 miles from Grand Teton and more than 200 miles from where it was caught in Utah.
The wolf's foray into Utah confirmed for the first time that wolves, exterminated 70 years ago by ranchers, have returned to Utah.
Experts say it likely was not the first time, nor will it be the last, that wolves from packs in Idaho and Wyoming venture into the deer- and elk-rich mountains of Utah.
As a result, DWR appears to be taking wolf issues more seriously.
Craig McLaughlin, the agency's mammals coordinator, was in Helena, Mont., this week to attend the annual meeting of the federally led team that is re-establishing wolf populations in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.
"I'm getting updated on details, on numbers of [wolves] and how they are doing inside and outside the park," said McLaughlin. "We're also trying to work through how we handle any future wolves in Utah."
Environmentalists, who are forming a coalition to bring the wolf back to Utah, cheered the news that the DWR is becoming more engaged in the issue.
"To me, it indicates the state is going to start moving on putting together a wolf recovery plan," said Allison Jones, an ecologist for the Utah Wild Project. "They've been dragging their heels. They need to get their act together.