*Editor’s Note* – This article makes claims about a “New York State Museum” study that showed that eight wild canines that had been living in the Northeast were “wild.” Unfortunately, what is not discussed here, which is just as important, if not more so, is that no testing was done on these animals, in this study, to determine taxanomy, i.e. as to whether or not these animals are or were some kind of hybrid.
Other reports have repeatedly said that the wild canines being found in all of the northeast part of the U.S. and most all of the eastern half of the country are hybrid/mixes. Therefore, the bigger question should become why should we be trying to protect hybrid species, which is a violation of the Endangered Species Act?
“Environmental organizations are fighting efforts to take the gray wolf off the federal endangered species list, thinking it could some day return to the Adirondacks.
Though perhaps it already has.
In December 2001, a hunter in the northern Saratoga County town of Day killed what he thought was a coyote but was later determined to be a wolf — the first confirmed wolf killing in the Adirondacks in more than 100 years.
A decade later, a New York State Museum study proved through bone analysis of its diet that the wolf was wild, not a former pet or captive turned loose or escaped. Most likely, the young male had crossed the St. Lawrence River from Ontario.
Regardless of where that one came from, the Adirondack Park’s rural communities are full of folks who believe wolves live out in the deep woods.
“There’s certainly anecdotal evidence of wolves being seen in the Adirondacks,” said Dan Plumley of Adirondack Wild, who has photographed possible wolf tracks on his property in Keene.<<<Read More>>>
