http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2003/04/21/news/mtregional/news07.txt

 

Biologist says Big Horn wolf might not have been alone
By the Associated Press

 

BUFFALO, Wyo. - A wolf that wandered into the Big Horn Mountains near the Montana line last month might not have been alone.

Or it may have done a bit of traveling since then, judging from some very large canid tracks in the Buffalo area recently.

The tracks, which measured 4 inches wide and 5 inches long, excluding the claws, were confirmed by a Game and Fish Department biologist on U.S. 16 about 10 miles west of Buffalo.

"We've taken a look at a couple of sets of tracks lately," biologist Dan Thiele said. "They're definitely those of a large canid and they fall within the characteristics of wolf tracks."

Thiele told the Buffalo Bulletin last week that the responsibility of confirmation rests with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which oversees wolves in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.

"We collect the information and send it on to the USFWS," he said. "They determine whether the tracks are those of a wolf."

Thiele said it is not unlikely that a wolf would show up in the area.

"They've already been confirmed in the Big Horns," he said. "There's a good probability that the animal leaving those tracks was a wolf."

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