Wolves have not been seen in Newfoundland since around 1930 andwere believed to have been hunted to extinction on the island, butgenetic tests have confirmed that an 82-pound animal shot on theBonavista Peninsula in March was, in fact, a wolf. "We can only speculate on how this wolf arrived on the island ofNewfoundland, but most likely it travelled from Labrador on sea iceto the island," Terry French, environment and conservation ministerfor Newfoundland and Labrador, said in a news release. 'With the number of polar bears coming ashore in Newfoundland thisspring, sea ice was plentiful enough to provide a travel route fora Labrador wolf.' Terry French, environment and conservation minister forNewfoundland and Labrador "Wolves are known to travel long distances, and with the number ofpolar bears coming ashore in Newfoundland this spring, sea ice wasplentiful enough to provide a travel route for a Labrador wolf." Extensive genetic testing by Memorial University in St. John's andthe University of Idaho confirmed the 37-kilogram animal was not acoyote or a dog. "Based on the analyses of our samples, which included coyotes frominsular Newfoundland, wolves from Labrador and dogs from bothinsular Newfoundland and Labrador, we conclude that the animal is awolf," said Beth Perry, a research associate at Memorial's Genomicsand Proteomics Facility. Hunter killed wolf in March Joe Fleming, an avid hunter from the Bonavista Peninsula communityof Spillars Cove, shot and killed the wolf on March 12. Fleming had seen abnormally large tracks and had heard tales abouta super-sized predator in the area. He attracted the animal using an electronic decoy device to lure itinto the open. "I turned on a male challenge call, which means there's anothermale trying to take over his area or his female coyotes, and I'dsay within three minutes, he was coming in," said Fleming. He killed the animal with a single rifle shot from over 200-metresaway. Fleming wasn't sure whether the animal was a coyote or a wolfbecause the tracks were so big but had attended agovernment-sponsored coyote seminar a month earlier at which it wasmentioned that there were no longer any wolves in Newfoundland. No evidence of breeding The Newfoundland wolf is believed to have been hunted to extinctionon the island since about 1930, but the grey wolf is still found inLabrador. "Although wolves may occasionally arrive from Labrador, there is noevidence of a breeding population on the island portion of theprovince," said Friday's news release. The release said the province has collected tissue samples fromabout 3,000 coyotes shot or trapped in Newfoundland through thecoyote carcass collection program but that, to date, no otherwolves have been identified. The province said its strategy for monitoring and managing the threatened woodland cariboupopulation on the island has also not found evidence of wolves. I am an expert from custom-machined-parts.com, while we provides the quality product, such as China RC Cars Spare Parts , China RC Plane Parts, Stainless Steel Nuts and Bolts,and more.
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