Dan Rosenblatt, wildlife diversity section head at the state Department of Environmental Conservation, addresses his department’s decision to identify an 85-pound canid a wolf. The animal was shot and killed in Central New York by a hunter in December 2021. DNA testing done at Princeton and Trent universities determined the animal to be a wolf. DEC made its findings public in September, after originally saying the animal was more closely related to an eastern coyote based on the results of a DNA test they received in the spring. This video was created and produced by DEC.
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Mike Lynch
Mike Lynch has been a multimedia reporter for the Explorer since 2014 and can often be found hiking mountains, paddling rivers, or skiing down slopes. His photos complement many of the stories throughout the magazine and website, and he regularly writes wildlife, land acquisition and recreation stories. Mike has also worked as a licensed outdoor guide and thru-paddled the 740-mile Northern Forest Canoe Trail. He is the author of 12 Short Hikes on Preserves near Lake George. He can be reached at [email protected]. Sign up for Mike’s newsletter
Bring back Elk.
Hunters and trappers have given the DEC some of the most thorough and hard to get information on wildlife in New York. As far as re-introduction goes of the wolf. It should not be forced but should happen naturally if the environment can support it.
The impact of the coyote Already has had a detrimental impact on other wildlife species in New York as well as the general public.
I beg to differ: When 16,000 coyotes are killed each year in New York under a “no limit/24 hours a day” hunting policy from October – March, I hardly think they represent a menace; quite the opposite, if you were a coyote.
Typical hunter. Shoot first, identify later.
The fact that DEC Fish and Wildlife felt it necessary to be interviewed like this in Sept. 2022 – after finally admitting, based upon DNA evidence, that this shot animal near Cooperstown in Dec. 2021 was a wolf – represents some progress. I commend Dan Rosenblatt for addressing this matter on camera. There could be a lot more hunter and public education than the limited paragraphs and photographs on the DEC state website. For starters, Mr. Rosenblatt’s interview should be placed prominently on the DEC site.
Well said, Dave
“ typical hunter, shoot first, identify later,” Generalization is the first indicator of ignorance. The hunter should have never submitted tissue samples for DNA tests. That way he wouldn’t have been subjected to such ignorant comments.