DNA Analysis Complete for Wolf Killed in Utah
Extensive DNA analysis performed by the University of Idaho has confirmed that the gray wolf shot in Utah on December 28, 2014 is the same animal which was sighted in the Grand Canyon area during fall of the same year.
Geneticists from the Laboratory for Ecological, Evolutionary, and Conservation Genetics compared DNA from the shot wolf with samples taken from the Grand Canyon wolf. The results confirmed that it was the same animal. The US Fish and Wildlife service identified the animal as 914F, collared near Cody, Wyoming on January 8, 2014.
Investigation into the death of 914F, also known as “Echo,” continues. The animal was shot by a hunter who claimed he believed it to be a coyote. The gray wolf is listed as “endangered”, and is protected under the Endangered Species Act, in southern Utah, but a commonly-invoked loophole (the “McKittrick Policy“) often protects those who do not believe they are shooting a protected species from legal ramifications.
Original article available here.