Animal killed with bow in Winnebago County may be a gray wolf
By Doug Zellmer
of The Northwestern
An animal shot and killed with a bow and arrow Saturday morning in Winnebago County have have been a gray wolf.
A preliminary examination of the animal that included photographs and measurements “is pretty consistent” with it being a wolf, said Jason Higgins, a conservation warden for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
However, Higgins said a necropsy, similar to an autopsy, will be conducted by the DNR’s wildlife health services in Madison.
“The animal’s appearance is consistent with it being a wolf, but we’re not 100 percent sure at this time,” Higgins said. “With the necropsy, they’ll take better measurements to see if it has the consistency as a wolf and they’ll also do genetic testing and possibly DNA testing.”
He said the person who killed the animal initially thought it was a coyote.
“When he walked up to the animal after it was shot he realized it was too big to be a coyote and then he reported it to the (Winnebago) sheriff’s department and they contacted us (the DNR),” Higgins said. “I would say the animal weighed 90 to 100 pounds and it appeared to be healthy.”
Higgins said if further tests reveal the animal is a wolf, the person who shot it could face a civil citation. He said wolves were de-listed from the federal list of threatened and endangered species on March 12, 2007, so no criminal charges would be forthcoming.
Higgins said the minimum fine for shooting and killing a wolf is $306.30 and the maximum is $2,155.50. In addition to the fine, Higgins said, a court can revoke the person’s hunting, fishing and trapping privileges for up to three years.
“We want to make sure it is a wolf before there is a charge,” he said.
The Wisconsin gray wolf population in late winter 2007 was 540 to 577 wolves in 138 packs and 17 loners, according to information from the DNR.
Read more about the possibility the animal killed was a gray wolf in Tuesday’s Northwestern.