The Wolf Is at the Door

By Carrie Thompson

Last December, an unidentified hunter in Central New York killed a coyote — or so he thought. The hunter posted the picture of his prize on Facebook and, frankly, it looks a lot like a wolf. But there are no wolves in New York State, right?

This post was spotted by a member of the Northeast Ecological Recovery Society and the hunter was contacted for a tissue sample submission. He complied and the DNA results are in; 100% wolf. The sample tested as a mix of “Great Lakes Wolf, Northwest Territories Grey Wolf, and Eastern Wolf. The purity of this DNA sample is consistent with a wild wolf ‘dispersed’ from Canada where wild wolves are known to intermingle”.

The discovery that the animal was a pure wolf came as a surprise to the organization due to the assumption that wolves, which thrive in the Canadian and Alaskan territories, are prevented from traveling into the Adirondacks by the Saint Lawrence River acting as a natural barrier.