CALHOUN COUNTY, MI -- What was a lone wolf doing in southern Michigan when it was killed in January?
A hunter told state officials he thought the animal was a coyote when he shot and killed it. But DNA testing later showed the animal was a federally endangered gray wolf.
Experts are looking into how the wolf got to southwest Michigan and it is not a part of a known population in the area, according to Michigan DNR Biologist and large carnivore specialist Brian Roell.
Here are five things to know about the gray wolf killed in southern Michigan:
‘Unusual’ wolf killing
The wolf harvest was an unusual one, because the state’s established wolf population is in the Upper Peninsula, Roell said. This gray wolf was killed hundreds of miles away. The 2022 wolf population in Michigan was estimated at around 631 wolves, give or take about 50, he said.
“How did it get here?” Roell said in an interview with MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette. He called the wolf’s presence there a “curiosity” for the DNR, and an unusual case.
Wolves once roamed throughout the state, but they have since been contained -- mostly -- to the Upper Peninsula.
Roell did not have any record of a sighting this far south in the Lower Peninsula, he said, estimating it has been 100 years or more.
“It’s been a long time,” Roell said.
Lone wolf found south of others
The lone wolf killed in Southwest Michigan does not suggest there is a population in the Lower Peninsula, he said.
“We don’t know of any animals (wolves) in the Lower Peninsula anywhere,” Roell said, based on current information. “If they are there, they are in numbers so low we can’t detect them.”
The presence of wolves in the northern Lower Peninsula has been confirmed a few times over the past two decades, he said. But not in the southern part.
A taxidermy gray wolf at the Seney National Wildlife Refuge temporary visitor center in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, May 17, 2022. (Garret Ellison | MLive)
“This is just a one-off kind of thing,” Roell said.
Wolves can travel thousands of miles, sometimes reaching areas far beyond their known range, the DNR said.
The DNR does not believe wolves are going to establish in the southern lower portion of Michigan.
That is partly because wolves, unlike coyotes, are not very tolerant of humans, Roell said. Humans also do not tolerate wolves very well, he said.
There is some suitable wolf habitat in the state’s northern Lower Peninsula, he said, but wolves have not established there either.
DNR investigating wolf incident
Killing a gray wolf or any endangered species could lead to state and/or federal charges or citations, Roell said. He declined to comment on the specifics of this case, because it is under investigation by the law enforcement division.
The gray wolf is federally endangered. Killing a gray wolf is illegal unless you are protecting human life, Roell said.
Violations of the Endangered Species Act can result in fines and prison time. Penalties can include restitution to the state for the loss of an endangered animal, Roell said, and court costs.
A county prosecutor would make any decision about possible charges being issued in the case, following an investigation by DNR law enforcement division, Roell said. Investigators will look into the hunter’s licenses and other circumstances, he said.
The hunter was on a legal coyote hunt and accompanied by a guide, the DNR said. The hunter reported the kill to officials and said he initially thought it was a large coyote.
The wolf weighed 84 pounds, the DNR said, while eastern coyotes usually weigh between 25 pounds and 40 pounds.
A coyote photographed in New Jersey. A hunter in Michigan told the DNR he was hunting for coyote, when he shot an animal later identified to be an endangered gray wolf. (File | NJ.com)Steve Liebman | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
The DNR law enforcement division referred further questions to Roell.
Golden retrievers are not cougars
Misidentification is common in reports to the DNR, he said, though the agency more often hears from people shooting animals with cameras, not guns.
Like the citizen reports of alleged cougars that turn out to be golden retrievers or other animals, the DNR also fields calls from people who incorrectly believe coyotes are wolves, Roell said.
Three golden retrievers watch their friend retrieve a ball at the Richmond Park Pool ‘Wag ’n’ Wade’ free dog swim in Grand Rapids on Sunday, Aug. 20, 2023. (Ridley Hudson | MLive.com)Ridley Hudson | MLive.com
“I look at pictures of coyotes all the time, and people think they’re wolves,” he said. “Since the press release went out (last week), I’ve looked at thousands of them. And they’re all coyotes.”
The alleged cougar reports are often revealed to be golden retrievers, yellow labs, bobcats domesticated cats or feral cats, he said.
The most common area reporting cougars is Oakland County, he said, a high population area of the state in southeast Michigan. But there are no cougars there, he said.
“That’s where the people are, not where the cougars are,” Roell said. “It’s just misidentification.”
The DNR confirmed a cougar spotting near Lansing in 2017. It was the first and only verified sighting in the Lower Peninsula, the DNR said at the time.
Related: Another cougar spotted in U.P., Michigan DNR confirms Luce County sighting
A team of experts looks at reports and photos submitted, he said, and they have to verify any claims with proof. Usually, a determination can be made from a photograph.
Investigation sometimes includes a site visit, he said, partly because people have tried to trick DNR officials by sending in photos of cougars, actually taken outside of the state.
This is a gray wolf, which is protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
How did it get here?
“I have no idea,” Roell said, when asked if the animal walked here itself, or if could have arrived some other way. He is hoping the probe will explain the origin of the wolf and how it got here.
“I’m just hoping we get a lot more information out of the investigation like I think a lot of people are,” Roell said.
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Visit Michigan.gov/Wolves for more information.
A gray wolf is shown in Michigan's Marquette County.
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