BY MOLLY MONTAG
DES MOINES | Iowa wildlife officials are asking hunters to be sure of their targets after another recent shooting of a large wolf-like animal mistaken for a coyote.
The 103-pound animal shot by a late-season muzzle-loader deer hunter on Dec. 28 or 29 in Van Buren County has been sent in for DNA testing, said Vince Evelsizer, furbearer and wetlands biologist for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
Officials are still waiting for DNA results from a 98-pound animal shot by a coyote hunter in Northwest Iowa’s Osceola County on Dec. 5.
The hunters’ names have not been released pending the investigation.
Both animals were mistaken for coyotes, which at 30-35 pounds are much smaller than the average 70-100-pound gray wolf.
“We want to be sure to encourage folks to be sure of their target when they’re hunting,” said Evelsizer, of the DNR’s Clear Lake office.
Test results will determine if the animals shot in December were wild wolves, which are protected by state and federal laws, or if they were wolf hybrids.
There is no breeding population of wolves in Iowa, but experts say there’s an estimated 2,500 wild wolves in Minnesota and another 1,500-2,000 in Wisconsin and Michigan. Adult wolves can roam hundreds of miles.
In 2014, two wolves were shot in eastern Iowa.