thegazette.com first reported: A coyote hunter in February shot a wolf near Fairbank in northwest Buchanan County — the first documented wolf in Iowa since at least 1925, according to the Department of Natural Resources. The confirmation of the animal as a wolf, by DNA testing, closes the circle on big predators that, though once exterminated, have re-entered Iowa, at least in small numbers — black bear, mountain lion and now the wolf.
“I was surprised but not that surprised,” said DNR furbearer specialist Vince Evelsizer, noting that Wisconsin and Minnesota have substantial wolf populations.
“Large animals can cover great distances, and state lines mean nothing to them,” he said.
Evelsizer’s lack of surprise was foretold in the last paragraph of an annual update of a gray wolf status report written last summer: “If the current trend continues, I think it is only a matter of time before a validated wild gray wolf is killed in the state,” he wrote.
Although wolves are a protected species in Iowa, the DNR declined to issue a citation to the hunter, who has not been publicly identified.
The hunter who shot the wolf thought he was shooting at a similar-appearing coyote, which is legal to shoot in the state, DNR Conservation Officer Scott Kinseth said.
Suspecting that he might have shot a wolf, the hunter took it to the DNR office in Manchester, where biologists examined the animal and took samples for DNA testing.
Kinseth said the hunter went out of his way to cooperate with the DNR, and he had no idea he was doing anything morally or legally wrong when he shot what he thought was a coyote.
The message going forward, he said, is, “They are protected animals. We know they are here. Make sure of your target. If in doubt, don’t shoot.”
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