Echo, who was spotted near the north rim of the famous Arizona landmark in 2014, was shot by a man who said he mistook her for a coyote
Gray wolves like Echo were released into Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and the central Idaho wilderness in the mid-90s to restore their numbers in the northern Rockies. Photograph: Panoramic Images/Getty Images/Panoramic RR
A gray wolf killed last year by a Utah hunter was “Echo”, a female that had garnered international attention after roaming from Wyoming to become the first of the protected animals seen at the Grand Canyon in Arizona in 70 years, US wildlife managers said on Wednesday.
News that the lone wolf spotted last fall near the north rim of the Grand Canyon was the same animal later killed in Utah by a hunter who said he mistook it for a coyote ignited outrage among wildlife advocates.
“It’s tragic that Echo traveled over 500 miles (800km) only to be cut down by an incredibly irresponsible coyote hunter,” said Bethany Cotton, wildlife program director for WildEarth Guardians.
Authorities have not released the name of the coyote hunter, who in December reported to Utah wildlife officers that he had accidentally shot and killed a radio-collared wolf near the border with Arizona.
It is illegal to kill wolves without a special permit in the lower 48 states, where most wolves are protected under the US Endangered Species Act. Wolves in just two states – Idaho and Montana – are not on a federal list of endangered and threatened species and can be legally hunted.
Read more at The Guardian
Categories: Conservation, Ecology, Endangered species, Environment, Environmental history, History, US News, Wildlife conservation, Wildlife ecology
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This is heartbreaking news. I can not believe Utah hunter who said he mistook it for a coyote.
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Some people don’t need to hunt especially those that can’t ID what animal they are hunting. It’s a wonder there are any animals left in the wild. 😦
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Wolves instinctively traverse vast areas of wilderness seeking mates. It is a behavior that has evolved over millions of years to mitigate the negative selective effects of intraspecific competition and inbreeding upon wolf populations, and that has served to promote survival of the species through population expansion within the limits of their ecosystem’s carrying capacity.
I don’t fault the hunter who shot Echo. He realized his mistake and did the right thing by reporting it to the appropriate authorities, even though that mistake could have made him subject to criminal prosecution under Federal law. Wolves and coyotes do interbreed producing similar-looking hybrids. The mistake is easy enough to make, especially in a region where one is not accustomed to finding wolves.
What is heartbreaking is the image of a lone wolf traveling over hundreds of miles over her species’ former range without ever encountering a single one of their own kind. So complete is the mindless desolation that has been carried out upon her kind by a race of stupid apes.
The other great tragedy here is that in our modern day so much irrational prejudice continues to exist toward these magnificent animals. It cannot be truthfully said that such opinions are based upon facts or firsthand experiences.
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