The strange and confusing "creature" that was shot in rural Montana about a month ago turned out to be just a regular, old grey wolf.
Well, certainly not "regular," but Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks said in a Monday morning news release that a DNA test done on the animal confirmed it was a grey wolf from the northern Rocky Mountains.
A rancher legally shot the animal near Denton, Montana, on May 16, and wildlife officials in the state started investigating what the thing might be.
The officials sent some DNA to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service forensic laboratory in Ashland, Oregon, and researchers there compared the sample to thousands of other samples from wolves, coyotes and dogs.
Researchers chock up the confusion surrounding the animal to its condition and the publicized photos -- which, due to whatever strange perspective, showed short legs and long ears.
According to the staff at the state's Bozeman wildlife office, they all thought it looked just like a regular wolf.
Mary Curtis, a geneticist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said physical variations are quite common in wild animals. She said it wasn't at all surprising the grey wolf looked that way.
The dead wolf was a non-lactating female (so not a mother), but wildlife researchers added that her physical traits would likely be shared by her siblings and parents -- and might even continue to be passed down to future generations.
She was likely between 2 or 3 years old and weighed just under 85 pounds. She was 45 inches from the tip of her nose to her rump, wildlife officials said.
Property owners in Montana have the OK to shoot any wolves they feel might be threatening to livestock or property. That was the case near Denton in May, when this animal was shot.
