Carcasses that the animals could be feeding on spotted.
The Salt Lake Tribune
A wildlife-trapping crew under contract with
the state spotted tracks from a helicopter Friday but didn’t find any
wolves or wolf-dog hybrids.
"The capture crew spent the morning following
five sets of tracks. But because snow conditions on the ground were
sporadic, they weren’t able to locate the animals," according to a news
release from the Division of Wildlife Resources.
While following the tracks, they spotted the
carcasses of three big-game animals that they believed the wolves, or
wolf-dog hybrids, had been feeding on.
The search for the wolves or wolf-dogs began
after a state coyote-control crew spotted four large canines roaming in
eastern Utah County a week ago.
The location the crew searched is a rugged, remote area east of Springville in north-central Utah.
In the next few days DWR biologists will
visit the areas where the carcasses are to see if they can find scat
left by the animals feeding on the carcasses.
"The scat may contain DNA that will tell us
whether the animals are wolves or wolf-dog hybrids," said John Shivik,
mammals coordinator for the DWR. It would take a couple of weeks to get
test results.
The biologists and other personnel also plan
to play recorded wolf howls in the next few nights in the area where the
animals were spotted to see if they can get the animals to respond, the
news released stated.
"If the animals howl back, we’ll be able to
better pinpoint their location," Shivik said. "Then, after the sun comes
up, the capture crew can fly to that location to see if they can find
them."
If they are wolves, they would represent the
first confirmed wolf group activity in Utah. They would also be
protected as an endangered species, because they’re south of Interstate
80 and outside the sliver of northern Utah that federal officials count
as part of the recovery zone where northern Rocky Mountain wolves were
removed from the endangered list.
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