CALHOUN COUNTY, Mich. — The Michigan Department of Natural Resources confirms a gray wolf was mistaken as a coyote and was shot and killed in Calhoun County.
It’s a unique sighting, as gray wolves are not known to live in the Lower Peninsula.
“You hear stories about wolves in the Lower Peninsula. But to see one, to actually see one is pretty rare. I've only seen a handful of wolves In my lifetime. I've been to Alaska and Canada. To see one in southern Michigan, I would never expect it. I can tell you that,” said outdoor and hunting television host Steve Gruber.
Brian Roell with the DNR says he got word back in January when a large harvest thought to be a coyote was questioned after pictures started circulating on social media.
He says a biologist from the Lower Peninsula reached out to him to confirm if the harvest was in fact a wolf.
“We got samples from the animal, and we were able to get genetic confirmation that the animal in question is indeed a Great Lakes Wolf,” said Roell.
Roell says the last time a gray wolf was captured outside of the Upper Peninsula was in 2004. It happened near Alpena in Presque Isle County.
Also in 2014, biologists say a wolf was caught on an eagle survey camera. Scat from the area was tested and confirmed that the animal was a wolf.
There's not a wolf population in the Lower Peninsula like there is in the Upper Peninsula, which is why hunters like Gruber have so many questions.
"First of all, how old is this wolf? Because in order to get to the Lower Peninsula, generally the common thinking has always been they have to come across the Straits of Mackinac on ice. Well, the last couple of years, there hasn't been any ice on the Straits of Mackinac. So how did that wolf get here? That's question number one. And how old is it? Where did it come from? Is it radio collared? Do we have some information on this wolf?” said Gruber.
Gruber also pointed out that his sources say it appears the hunter in this case has a lack of experience and mistook the wolf for a coyote.
He says while he hopes the DNR understands the mistake, he wants the hunter to learn to be more aware of what they are shooting at.
Roell says details are still limited as the investigation continues. But one thing both he and Gruber emphasized is that the public should not be worried about more wolves coming into our region.
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