Rare gray wolf killed during hunt in Michigan, officials launch investigation

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The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has launched an investigation after a hunter recently reported his harvest, which he believed to be a coyote — but after further genetic testing, the kill proved to be something far rarer.

The DNR announced in a press release that the animal killed in Calhoun County, Michigan's southern Lower Peninsula, was actually a gray wolf.

While the DNR does conduct searches in the Lower Peninsula, there have not been many signs of wolf presence since the population was reestablished in the 1980s, according to a DNR press release.

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The DNR was not made aware of the discovery until the hunter's prize started circulating on Facebook, Brian Roell, a wildlife biologist and large carnivore specialist with the Michigan DNR, told Fox News Digital.

An 84-pound gray wolf (not pictured) was shot and killed in Michigan's southern Lower Peninsula after the hunter confused it for a coyote, according to the Michigan DNR. (iStock)

The Facebook post revealed that a hunter had shot and killed a new world record coyote weighing 84 pounds. However, eastern coyotes typically weigh 25 to 40 pounds, the DNR's press release said.

A local biologist reached out to Roell in late January and asked him to look at the photos that had been posted and after viewing those images, Roell immediately knew it was not a coyote, he said.

After further genetic testing, Roell's hypothesis was proven correct, and the animal was identified as a gray wolf.

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Roell said there is no reason to believe that the hunter was hunting illegally. Still, the local law enforcement division is "looking into" the incident, Roell explained.

The hunter, according to the DNR, had reported that he harvested the large animal amid a legal coyote hunt.

This presence of a gray wolf in this region was a shock to the Michigan DNR and is currently under investigation. The wolf that was harvested is not pictured in this photo. (iStock)

While it is unusual for a gray wolf to be found in the Calhoun County area, Roell does not feel that anyone should be concerned.

"It doesn't really mean anything. Folks are kind of jumping the gun, [thinking] this represents a population or range expansion," he said.

"Wolves and all large carnivores have this ability to move long distances, [but] there really isn't any suitable habitat there, so I don't expect that there are more," Roell added.

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The DNR has already launched an investigation to find out how the wolf ended up in the southern Lower Peninsula.

Roell said the wolf population in Michigan mainly exists in the north, where there are 600 to 700 wolves accounted for. (iStock)

The DNR notes that there were some other occurrences in 2004, 2011, 2014 and 2015 in which wolf or wolf-like animals were documented.

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There is a stable population of wolves in the Upper Peninsula with 600 to 700 wolves accounted for, Roell said.

Both law enforcement and the DNR are working on investigating the hunt in hopes of learning how the wolf (not pictured) ended up so far south. (iStock)

Gray wolves are protected under the Endangered Species Act in 44 states, including Michigan, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services.

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