The last time a gray wolf was seen prowling near the north rim of the Grand Canyon? That was decades ago. Decades. It was during the early 1940s. FDR was president.
But that streak might be over. The Center for Biological Diversity says a gray wolf might have been spotted in the area this fall. A few people have even taken photos. Officials are now investigating, according to reports.
"We're pretty excited about it," said Michael Robinson, a conservation advocate with the nonprofit. He said the wolf, which the Arizona-based group "strongly" suspects is from the northern Rocky Mountains, appears to be wearing a radio collar, which isn't working. But if authorities can successfully track the animal, they might be able to try to determine its DNA using other testing methods.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service representatives told Live Science and National Geographic that they were working to collect a feces sample from the animal, which would help determine whether it is, in fact, a gray wolf — or perhaps a hybrid. "Until more is known about this animal, visitors to the area are cautioned that this may be a wolf from the northern Rocky Mountain population and fully protected under the Endangered Species Act," the agency told Live Science.
For what it's worth, Robinson said he doesn't think the animal looks like a hybrid — at least in photos. Its tail isn't curving the way it might with a hybrid, for example, and its facial appearance and ears seem like those of a gray wolf. "The things that would be red flags to me, I'm not seeing," he said.
Gray wolves were once abundant "across most of the continental United States," according to Live Science.
But the predators were aggressively hunted and sometimes killed for bounties through the early 20th century. By the mid-20th century, the only places gray wolves could be found below the Canadian border were a sliver of land in northern Minnesota and Michigan's Isle Royale.
For people like Robinson, the recent gray wolf sighting might be a signal that the population might grow in the Grand Canyon's north rim region. (He said that the center has been told that the animal wouldn't be shipped back to the Rocky Mountains, but instead released onsite.)
He said, "It's like this wolf is voting with its four paws to stay in an area that scientists have found to be good for wolves."
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