Grey Wolf Killed in Nebraska-First in Over 100 Years

Earlier this year we wrote of a possible wolf print in the snow around the Vermillion, South Dakota area. Now, we read that there has been a Grey Wolf killed in the sandhills of our neighbors to the south, Nebraska. According to Omaha.com;

Federal officials have confirmed that a gray wolf was shot and killed in the Sand Hills south of Bassett, Nebraska, in November. It’s only the second confirmed case of a wolf being taken in Nebraska in more than a century.

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This wolf had the 'coloration that was similar to a coyote, however, the animal was much larger. This male wolf weighed in at 81 pounds. The report from Omaha.com went on to say that DNA testing showed that the wolf probably originated from a pack in the northern Great Lakes region. It was also stated that nobody would be prosecuted for the shooting;

Records obtained by The World-Herald indicate that the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute the rancher — whose name was obscured in the records — because no criminal intent was found. The wolf was shot near a center pivot-irrigated field about 22 miles south of Bassett.

Calving season is in full swing here in South Dakota as well as in Nebraska. You may remember that President Trump had recently 'delisted' the Grey Wolf (except Grey Wolves in an area in the South West States) as an endangered species.

This was the first confirmed wolf in Nebraska since 2002, when a 100-pound male was seen near Spaulding, in central Nebraska, by a coyote hunter. This coyote was actually shot in mid-November by a rancher who was out checking cattle. The rancher told authorities that he had recently lost several yearling calves to what he suspected was predation by coyotes.

How rare is this? This is only the second confirmed case of a wolf being taken in Nebraska in more than a century.

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