DNA testing has confirmed that an animal spotted on the Grand Canyon's remote North Rim is a Rocky Mountain gray wolf, meaning the wolf traveled nearly 500 miles — and probably much farther — to get there.
The female wolf, which is wearing an inoperative tracking collar, is about 450 miles from its home in the northern Rocky Mountains, the Center for Biological Diversity said in a statement. It's likely that the wolf followed a much more meandering path to get to Arizona, though.
Rocky Mountain gray wolves are on the federal endangered-species list, but that could change soon if a federal proposal is finalized. The center voiced its support for keeping the wolves on the list:
“This wolf’s epic journey through at least three western states fits with what scientific studies have shown, namely that wolves could once again roam widely and that the Grand Canyon is one of the best places left for them,” said Michael Robinson with the Center for Biological Diversity. “It’s heartening this animal has been confirmed as a wolf but I am very worried that if wolves are taken off the endangered species list she will be killed and wolf howls from the North Rim’s pine forest will never again echo in the Grand Canyon.”
Gray wolves were largely exterminated from the western United States in the first half of the 20th century, and reintroduction efforts are ongoing.
Photo: Courtesy of Arizona Game and Fish Department