“That’s something manmade”: Possible coyote-wolf hybrid spotted in California
By Rachel Wulff
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SHINGLE SPRINGS (KOVR) — What appears to have been a hybrid coyote and wolf, or a coywolf, was spotted in the Shingle Springs area.
Images show the animal close to a mobile home park at midday last week.
“It walked away slowly, looking back every few seconds, and then it darted in the bush,” Ben Wilson said.
Wilson is an employee at the mobile home park and was surprised by the animal’s size.
“It didn’t look like any coyote I’ve ever seen and it was up to my chest. I’m 5’8″ and it was up to my stomach,” he said.
And where there is one, there are usually two. Video shows a pair seen trotting along a nearby trail.
Fauna project coyote 335 “We ran this through Project Coyote’s science advisory board — the pictures and the video — and they do agree it looks hybrid. But without genetic testing and a hare snare, we will never know for sure,” said Fauna Tomlinson with Project Coyote.
Project Coyote has seen the videos and pictures posted online and notified the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. These hybrids, or coywolves, are typically never seen west of the Mississippi — and they are not a natural occurrence.
“That’s something manmade. They put them together to make some sort of hybrid,” Tomlinson said.
Why are they roaming now? Some speculate flooding or wildfires have impacted sanctuaries, or their owners released them into the wild. Residents in that area are sniffing out solutions because “seeing the wolves out in the day was a little alarming,” Wilson said.
Authorities say you shouldn’t feed them. You should call animal control or the fish and game to track them and find out where they came from.
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