Advocates claim wolves are returning to New York State

A pack of animal advocates claims that recent DNA analysis proves that an animal believed to be a coyote shot by a hunter in upstate New York last winter was actually a wolf.

They believe that the wolf in coyote’s clothing is just one of many that crossed over a frozen St. Lawrence River from Canada into New York and New England according to a report

“There has to be other wolves here,” said John Glowa, president of the Maine Wolf Coalition. “We have no doubt that eastern wolves are coming down and crossing the St. Lawrence. And they’re being killed. And they’re being called coyotes.”

The new evidence is part of a longstanding debate over the large canines, which is complicated by the fact that eastern coyotes tend to share genetic material with wolves.

“The question is: What is a wolf? And that is not as simple as it sounds,” said Daniel Rosenblatt, New York Department of Environmental Conservation wildlife biologist.

Some activists charge that wildlife officials won’t acknowledge the wolves’ presence, because if they did, the federally protected species would have to be safeguarded.

Officials state that there’s no evidence to maintain the reestablishment of wild wolves in the Northeast, though some have admitted the possibility of lone wolves scattered throughout the region. 

With Post Wires