An 82-Pound Coyote? Maybe, Maybe Not…

Joe Fleming, of Spillars Cove, Newfoundland, shot an 82-pound canine last week in the Canadian province. Wildlife officials initially believed it was a coyote, but DNA testing is being conducted on the animal to determine exactly what it is.

“I haven’t seen anything like it before. I haven’t seen a track like it before. … I’ve been hunting for a long time and this is the biggest one I’ve seen. The biggest one I’ve weighed,” Fleming told The Telegram, of St. Johns.

Speculation is running wild on the Internet about what the animal could be since the canine weighs more than twice as much as a normal coyote and looks similar to a wolf, yet it was shot on an island thought to be void of wolves since the 1930s. Opinions vary from it being a coyote, a wolf, a coyote-wolf hybrid or a coyote-dog hybrid.

Hair and blood samples have been taken and testing at the Memorial University of Newfoundland will help determine what species the animal is or if it is a hybrid, according to The Telegram. Steve Carr, of the biology department at MUN, told The Telegram the animal could be a mix of a wolf and a coyote or a mix between a coyote and a husky.

Fleming found tracks of the animal that indicated it was traveling with a much smaller coyote. He decided to hunt the animal using an electronic caller in the area he found the tracks.

“I turned on a male challenge call, which means there’s another male trying to take over his area or his female coyotes, and I’d say within three minutes he was coming in,” Fleming told the Huffington Post.

So, what do you think it is?

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29 thoughts on “An 82-Pound Coyote? Maybe, Maybe Not…

  1. Why did you have to shoot this animal? The story did not say why. I think an animal like this should have been trapped for inspection. . Thank You. Danny ( Gripper ) Griggs!!

  2. This is a hunting website gripper and ted maybe you should unsubscribe. We kill things, that is what we do. While it appears to be a wolf to me I will wait for further determination, If it ends up being a dog or cross breed pet it shouldn’t have been running loose and now it is dead. Way to go Joe.

  3. who cares , its dead. no more dining on deer, elk, caribou or what ever else it could catch. when ever they are big they are wolves. there are big yotes out there too, or could it be? could you see where the collar used to be??

  4. i will bet it is a husky i have two that are idenical and they weight about 90 pounds ether way they should be shot if wild they are worse than a wolf if wild

  5. I have killed a 60 plus pound coyote in the past and have the rug. This, though, is not a coyote but one of the other previously mentioned animals.

  6. Its a wolf coyote hybrid, trap-em like that all the time here in Indiana, We get the male wolves from the Great Lakes once theyre kicked out from the pack, and since there are no female wolves we end up with these hybrids, through in a bit of dog DNA and you end up with a pelt thats not worth 50 cents. Of course the wildlife officials deny it.

  7. Poor judgment on the hunter he should have contacted the division and let them trap the animal to find out.Looks like a wolf and ignorance is no excuse. Bet the first people he called or sent any info to was the papers.

  8. wolf….duh….sure aint a coyote. we are getting coyotes weighing that much here in central Ohio. I see one that looks like that……he is down. Still legal here in Ohio (since we don;t have wolves) Field and Stream article currently has a story of a wolf being shot up in Sandusky area I believe and wolves being reported southern Ohio as well. Like I said……that is a picture of a wolf, mark my word. DNA will prove it.

  9. Hybrids aren’t able to father pups. This one is “one of a kind” just like all the other hybrids out there. Fair Game ! and for the non-hunters out there, the goal to hunting is not to decimate a species, but through controlled hunts & conservation efforts, we preserve the hunting rights for our children’s children.

  10. I agree with the hunters. Here in Minnesota we didn’t have a coyote problem until these last few years and now they are taking down our deer herd. Whatever it is, a animal that large needs to eat deer or whatever it can take down. We don’t need a super coyote to deplete our nations deer herds.

  11. All you people that are saying he shouldnt have shot it put yourself in his shoes your going to tell me that you wouldnt have shot it.. o i better not shoot it and have the DNR trap it … duh.. jeat of the moment.. and if it is part domestic or domestic it should not have been roaming around.. test results will tell..

  12. This animal may be a wolf but I think it is a wolf/dog hybred. Since it was killed on an island, I believe the shooter deserves a conservation award although now that the animal is dead it is too late to let nature demonstrate the devistating effect wolves can have on island prey species. Oh wait, that has already been studied on Cornation Island in Alaska and published by Harry Merriam.

  13. I have been coyote hunting in Ontario Canada in an area that fringes or rather overlap coyote/wolf country for 15 years. I also have spent many years nuisance coyote hunting and trapping coyotes for Land owners in this area. I have stretched many coyote. Thats no coyote !

  14. Looks like a wolf to me too.. Like stated earlier.. its funny how they keep popping up in places that supposedly don’t have wolves. A dog this size would terrorize the deer herd. Keep the predators under control and take them when you can. Put those guys behind the gun who say Joe shouldn’t have shot, and see what they do. Congrats Joe,

  15. I believe it is a Hybrid .. and if it is proven that it is then no harm done because the animal wouldnt have reproduced , but surely would have continued killing valuable game species that we need and want. I agree with those saying “what would you have done w/ gun in hand”… the people defending the predators would be the first ones complaining in this Country if the Deer and other wild game populations explode to sickness and starvation, then they would be asking for a “study” to be funded by tax payers .. to figure out how to help the poor starving diseased wild game . The Deer and other wild game that this guy was killing will be able to go on peoples tables to feed their families as was intended ! good job getting that bugger!

  16. I’ve read in several places that the Eastern Coyotes have a percentage of DNA from wolves; whereas, the Western Coyotes do not. That is one explanation for why the Eastern yotes tend to be larger. Obviously, game regulations cannot be based on DNA samples and testing because a sportsman in the field could not follow them. So I would assume that a hunter in this situation has to say he thought it was a large coyote in order to avoid being prosecuted for killing a wolf, if they are protected there. A rough example is the person who sells or buys fake drugs. They have committed a crime even though the substance was not a drug……

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