USFWS Says Wolf Spotted On North Rim Of Grand Canyon Is A Rocky Mtn. Gray Wolf

A female gray wolf that dispersed from the Rocky Mountains, presumably in search of a mate and new territory, has been roaming the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, according to a DNA analysis performed for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The confirmation announced Friday came from analysis on a scat sample conducted by the University of Idaho’s Laboratory for Ecological, Evolutionary and Conservation Genetics. The lab now will turn to comparing that DNA to DNA samples taken from other female Rocky Mountain gray wolves to see if it can pinpoint where the North Rim wolf came from. “The DNA results indicate this wolf traveled at least 450 miles from an area in the northern Rocky Mountains to northern Arizona,” Benjamin Tuggle, the Fish and Wildlife Service's Southwest regional director, said in a release. “Wolves, particularly young wolves, can be quite nomadic dispersing great distances across the landscape. Such behavior is not unusual for juveniles as they travel to find food or another mate.” The scat sample was obtained Nov. 2 by researchers. Efforts to capture the wolf to obtain a blood sample and replace a worn radio collar were unsuccessful and suspended due to cold weather, the agency said. With the confirmation, the wolf automatically gains protection under the Endangered Species Act, according to Defenders of Wildlife...more