Utah: Animal found dead in trap appears to be gray wolf

Utah: Animal found dead in trap appears to be gray wolf

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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah authorities say an animal that appears to be a gray wolf was found dead in a snare set for a coyote earlier this month near the Wyoming state line.

The 89-pound female was found Nov. 7 in an area where the animals are not listed as an endangered species, Kim Hersey with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources said Friday.

Biologists believe the animal is a wolf but are conducting genetic tests to make sure that it wasn't a dog hybrid, she said. Those tests could take months to complete.

The approximately 2 1/2 -year-old creature was found west of Randolph by a trapper who alerted state wildlife authorities.

It was found in a small portion of the state about 100 miles northeast of Salt Lake City, where gray wolves have been removed from the list of endangered species. It's part of a region where wolves originally introduced at Yellowstone National Park became established, said Hersey.

Wolves in the area are still protected by Utah state law. Killing them is generally prohibited unless they are attacking livestock or threatening a person, though there is leeway for inadvertent killing, said Hersey.

Sightings of wolves are relatively rare in the area, though Hersey said officials typically gets a handful of reports every year of animals coming into the area from nearby Wyoming or Idaho.

No wolf sightings were reported before the animal was found dead on Nov. 7, so it's not clear how long she might have been in the area. She was not fitted with a radio collar or other research tracking device.

The man who trapped the animal is registered with a state program that offers people $50 per coyote, Hersey said. The purpose of the traps he set wasn't immediately clear. The death was first reported by the Salt Lake Tribune.

In December 2014, a Utah hunter shot and killed a gray wolf he said he mistook for a coyote.

That wolf, killed near Beaver in southwestern Utah, turned out to be a long-ranging 3-year-old female who captured the attention of wildlife advocates across the county when she became the first wolf seen near the Grand Canyon in 70 years.

Wildlife advocates were dismayed when the hunter wasn't charged after an investigation by U.S. Fish and Wildlife.

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