HikeArizona.COM

Investigation is still needed and in process. Photos from a hunter are being analyzed and field work is in process.

An animal spotted at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon this month could be the first federally protected gray wolf seen in the area in years, wildlife officials said Thursday.

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/loc ... /18225655/

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is looking at photographic evidence to determine the species of an animal seen north of the park by a hunter and other visitors starting about three weeks ago, said Jeff Humphrey.

Conservation groups say the animal's size, ear shape and inactive radio tracking collar indicate it is likely a Northern Rocky Mountain gray wolf. If that's the case, it will be the first spotting in the area since the 1940s, said Michael Robinson, conservation advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity

Holy cow! So, they want to check to see if it's a hybrid, but if it has an inactive radio collar on it then I would think it's not a hybrid.

azbackpackr wrote:but if it has an inactive radio collar on it then I would think it's not a hybrid.

Unless it's a Collar for an Invisible Fence or a Shock Collar.... ;) Hybrids are very hard to keep in Activity. They are very adept Escape Artists and are really good Jumpers.... This will be interesting...

Two words: Echinococcus granulosus
They will rue the day this wolf showed up if it is from the north.

azbackpackr wrote:They will rue the day this wolf showed up if it is from the north.

There you go again Liz, confusing me with those long difficult words and this one is only three letters long! :tt: ;)

SuperstitionGuy wrote:

azbackpackr wrote:They will rue the day this wolf showed up if it is from the north.

There you go again Liz, confusing me with those long difficult words and this one is only three letters long! :tt: ;)

Ha. So, yeah, pretty much all the wolves up here in Idaho carry and spread that hyatid cyst disease, (Echinococcus granulosus.) My brother and his wife know someone who's had to have 1/4 of her liver removed due to the cysts. It's nasty, truly nasty, if your dog or you or your child get it, and the spores/eggs can live several years, by the millions, in the soil. It's really ugly. It can infest a whole area. You can get infected with it numerous ways.

we should probably just kill all of the animals everywhere just to be on the safe side... plz:

I hope they never get him

Instead of coming up with knee-jerk, mean, snarky, or, on the other hand, warm-fuzzy-emotional reactions to my statement about a disease in Idaho, which affects all the wolves, deer and elk, cattle and sheep, dogs, humans (especially children) etc. etc., why not look into it, read up on it? You may begin to agree that at the very least the scientists should study this wolf to see where it came from. Maybe there won't be a problem, if the wolf is disease-free. It's easy to test for hyatid eggs. They can test the feces, in fact, without even bothering the animal.

We already have Mexican wolves in Arizona which are disease-free. They could be introduced and could form a viable population on the N. Rim.

azbackpackr wrote:Instead of coming up with knee-jerk, mean, snarky, or, on the other hand, warm-fuzzy-emotional reactions

The pot said to the kettle.

azbackpackr wrote:You may begin to agree that at the very least the scientists should study this wolf to see where it came from.

Pretty sure that's what they've stated they're doing.

When we were at the North Rim in 2011, we saw what we are pretty sure was a wolf on the entrance road. it was at least 100 yards away. i did get a picture, but it was so far away that it really does not show up. I could not tell what kind it was, but I remember I did not think it was a coyote.

Positive confirmation from DNA testing that it is a Rocky Mountain Gray Wolf
http://azdailysun.com/news/local/animal ... 2af8a.html

USFWS biologists collected scat for genetic information on Nov. 2. A DNA analysis conducted by the University of Idaho's Laboratory for Ecological, Evolutionary and Conservation Genetics confirmed the animal is a gray wolf from the northern Rocky Mountain population.

In all, the wolf, which is not associated with the Mexican gray wolf population, has traveled at least 450 miles from an area in the northern Rockies to northern Arizona. Gray wolves have not been observed in northern Arizona for more than 70 years.

Hmm so the wolf did not have to be ambushed by a helicopter, netted and dragged to the north rim? You mean it returned to a previous natural habitat on its own accord? Hmmm what a concept

He'd better be careful, he may be found to have some sort of sickness after traveling so far, and we'll have to euthanize him.. :SB:

Or relocate the poor bugger to the Catalinas

‘Mistaken identity’ shooting fits disturbing pattern of accidental kills, wildlife advocates say
http://summitcountyvoice.com/2014/12/29 ... nd-canyon/

The state agency said the hunter voluntarily reported the kill when he noticed the radio-collar.

Although I tend to be suspicious in these circumstances, I give the hunter credit for coming forward.

I am not remotely against hunting.

But:

a fundamental rule of firearm and hunter safety is never to pull the trigger without being 100 percent sure of the target

this needs to be enforced/penalized much more severely. Hunters must be held to account for taking species "by accident". When you are firing a gun, there is no excuse for not being absolutely sure what you are shooting.

@chumley I definitely agree with imposing an appropriate penalty. I wonder how UT compares to AZ in that regard.

skillpore wrote:The hunter probably mistakes dogs for coyotes then.

I wouldn't be surprised. A wolf looks more like a dog to me than a coyote does, especially from a distance.