DNA Test Confirms That Another Wolf Has Been Killed By A Hunter In New York; Take Action To Help Protect All Wolves In The U.S.

A recent DNA analysis revealed that an 85-pound gray wolf was shot and killed by a hunter in central New York last December. At the time, protection for wolves was removed from the Endangered Species Act. While the protection of wolves has since been reinstated in certain areas of the country, sadly, wolves in the Rocky Mountains are still not protected.

According to the Maine Wolf Coalition, at least 11 wolves have been killed south of the St. Lawrence River since 1993. This includes wolves that have been killed in New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, New Brunswick, and Quebec.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation continues to deny the presence of wolves in the state despite New York’s proximity to Canada where wolves are traveling from.

“The science, including DNA evidence and a growing number of dead wolves, tells us that wolves are present in the Northeast, despite continued government denials,” said John Glowa, president and co-founder of the Maine Wolf Coalition. “It is past time for state and federal agencies to get their collective heads out of the sand by doing the research and by giving wolves in the Northeast the protection they are legally entitled to.”

The Maine Wolf Coalition documented the first eastern wolf that was alive in Maine through scat collected in 2019. There are tens of thousands of square miles of potential wolf habitat in the Northeast, much of it in New York, which makes it ideal for wolf recovery. Wolves live just 60 miles north of the New York border, a distance a wolf can travel in under two days.

“These results clearly show that wolves are making their way back into the Northeast, lands this magnificent species once called home,” said Amaroq Weiss, senior wolf advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. “While it’s heartbreaking that this wolf was killed, we are grateful that the hunter agreed to provide a tissue sample for DNA analysis. Now, it is time for state and federal leaders to step up and help these endangered and protected wolves return to the Northeast.”

#RelistWolves is a campaign launched by a coalition of NGO’s, scientists, concerned citizens, and political campaign strategists, that aims to ensure that all wolves in the United States are protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Please take action by asking your representatives to put pressure on Deb Haaland and President Biden to #RelistWolves, HERE!