12/18/2025
So important to educate. It takes away the fear and in turn the hate🖤
In December 2021, a hunter shot what he believed was a coyote. But the canine weighed 84 pounds, far larger than even the biggest eastern coyotes. The hunter was fortunately willing to provide a DNA sample to advocates and New York wildlife officials, which allowed analysis of the animal's origins and confirming the individual was a wild gray wolf from the Great Lakes region.
Now, a new scientific study based on full analysis of that wolf (whose body is held by the NY State museum) confirms that wolves sometimes disperse long distances from core wolf populations in the Great Lakes and Canada to arrive in locations south of the St. Lawrence river. It’s a firm reminder that wolves still move through Northeastern landscapes, even if only occasionally. Thanks to its abundant suitable habitat and proximity to Canada, New York offers ideal conditions for wolves.
Cases of mistaken identity are common due to the overlapping appearance of wolves and coyotes, as well as their long, complex history of hybridization in eastern North America. In New York, coyotes can unfortunately be legally hunted in unlimited numbers most of the year, while wolves are protected under state and federal law. This discovery underscores the need for stronger wild carnivore protections, and better education and clearer guidance for hunters.
Project Coyote’s advocacy, including support for a wolf protection bill in NY that would require reporting of any large wild canids killed, the recommendation that the gray wolf be included in state Wildlife Action Plans region-wide, and broader coexistence efforts, relies on growing scientific evidence that wolves, coyotes, and their hybrids continue to live and move through the Northeast.
Protecting coyotes, who like wolves, naturally regulate their own populations, ultimately helps protect wolves and their mixed-ancestry relatives as well.
