Are Wolves Returning to Yellowstone?
CHEYENNE, Wyo., Dec. 12 — DNA test results that were eagerly awaited by wildlife specialists have failed to establish whether a wolf-like animal killed three months ago was in fact a wolf or instead a dog. The animal’s carcass was subjected to one of the most extensive wildlife autopsies of recent years because it had been killed in northwestern Wyoming just south of Yellowstone National Park. Its presence there suggested that wolves might have begun migrating from northern Montana to the Yellowstone area, the largest ecosystem in the 48 contiguous states, after an absence of three-quarters of a century. But Ralph Morgenweck, regional director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, said Thursday, “It is not clear at this time what this animal is, largely because some of the basic research on genetic differences between dogs and wolves has never been done.” Mr. Morgenweck said that more such research was being performed but that it was far from completion.
