Study links wolves, coyotes of Bay State. By Stan Freeman. The Republican
Dr. John Way (who frequently comments on this blog said) “The results seem to show that, on average, roughly 10 to 15 percent of the genetic makeup of our Eastern coyotes is Eastern wolf. . . . However, some of the individuals studied were almost pure Eastern wolf.”
To best understand what Dr. Way found, go to his web page”
http://www.easterncoyoteresearch.com/easterncoyotegenetics.html
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Ralph Maughan
Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University with specialties in natural resource politics, public opinion, interest groups, political parties, voting and elections. Aside from academic publications, he is author or co-author of three hiking/backpacking guides, and he is past President of the Western Watersheds Project.
In typical fashion, the reporter who wrote the article is buying the government’s line without talking to any other sources of information. The claim by the Mass Wildlife official that the canid’s behavior was not that of a wild animal because it killed numerous lambs without completely eating them is either based on ignorance or deliberate misrepresentation. It comes as no surprise to me that the preliminary DNA testing shows that the canid was a wolf. At 85 lbs. however, it was certainly not an eastern wolf but likely a gray/eastern wolf/coyote hybrid. Male adult eastern wolves in Algonquin Park average only 66 lbs. The most misleading quote in the article reads, “Animals are occasionally killed in New England that are later found to be wolves, but most, if not all, are suspected of being captive wolves that escaped or were released by their owners.” This is essentially a verbatim quote of the state and federal governments, none of which want wolves here. I would challenge the reporter do some real journalism and find evidence to support the claim that these wolves escaped or were released from captivity.