DNA test confirms animal killed in NY was wolf, not coyote

[sl8]

https://www.wcax.com/2022/09/22/dna-test-confirms-animal-killed-ny-was-wolf-not-coyote/

DNA test confirms animal killed in NY was wolf, not coyote

By The Associated Press
Published: Sep. 22, 2022 at 7:26 PM EDT

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Recent tests confirmed an animal killed during a coyote hunt in upstate New York last year was a wolf, state environmental officials said Thursday.

The results reviewed this week contradicted an initial analysis that had concluded it was an Eastern coyote, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Environmental officials said it is only the third wolf identified in the wild in the state in 25 years. They said it wasn’t known where the animal was from, but that it was likely it from the Great Lakes area, though that wolf population isn’t known to have spread beyond Michigan.

They said it could have been a captive animal that escaped or was released.

The wolf was killed in Cherry Valley, Otsego County, about 40 miles (64.37 kilometers) west of Albany. After experts reviewing the initial DNA analysis concluded it was a coyote, DNA submitted by the hunter was sent to Princeton University for further testing, which indicated it likely was a male wolf.

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[Farmer-Rick]

1. It took them a year to make a DNA identification?

Slow.......

The coyotes around here are as big as wolves. I had a staring contest with one the other day. It was not afraid in the least. It was big, about the size of a lab. But it also had the high ground so it may have looked bigger than it was. Though the wolf has bred with the coyotes around here creating coywolves.

Never had them kill anything but chickens. They do love chicken. I caught one sneaking up onto my chicken coop but it saw me and ran. It never got near the chickens but the next day my electric chicken netting was torn down at night. I suspect it came back at night and hit the fence. It broke 2 fiberglass post.

[Jilly_in_VA]

2. There are also crossbreeds

known as coywolves, in parts of the country, mostly north and some of the northeast, and in parts of Canada. And guess how this happens? Lone wolves, such as this one, may mate with a female coyote they come across. They will settle down and raise pups just like any normal family. The resulting offspring are larger than coyotes and have the smarts of both parents. I saw a documentary on this somewhere.
(As an aside, coyotes are pretty promiscuous, and smart too...in addition to eating your small pets, they will mate with larger dogs, given the opportunity.)