A Britton-area man is caught up in a federal investigation after shooting an animal that may be a gray wolf.
Mike Werner said he was hunting coyotes by a slough near Clear Lake in Marshall County on Jan. 13 when he shot and killed what he thought was a bigger, dark coyote that came up behind him about 100 yards away.
Immediately after shooting the animal, Werner said he realized it was much larger than a coyote and resembled a wolf.
Officials with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are investigating the case.
Casey Dowler, a conservation officer with the state Game, Fish and Parks Department in Marshall County, said the animal is being tested at a federal lab.
Dowler would not give anymore information on the case since there is an active federal investigation into the shooting of the animal.
GFP Conservation Officer Supervisor Mike Klosowski said harvesting, trapping or recreational hunting of wolves is illegal.
Klosowski said any case involving gray wolves falls under the management of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He said GFP has no wolf management authority at this time.
“So when we have an incident where a gray wolf is killed by a member of the public, we’d likely respond to the call, do a preliminary investigation then pass it off to Fish and Wildlife Service,” Klosowski said. “Then they would do any kind of prosecution on their end, or not prosecute on their end.”
Klosowski said gray wolf sightings are uncommon in northeastern South Dakota, but transient wolves do come through the state from time to time.
“To the east we have Minnesota. Northern Minnesota has a healthy population of gray wolves,” he said. “Then when you go out west near Yellowstone National Park, you have a very healthy population of wolves out there too.”
He explained that wolves are known to venture away from their pack to start their own pack in a new territory.
Klosowski said if the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service were to prosecute someone for killing a gray wolf the case would go to court.
Knowing that wolves are protected under the Endangered Species Act and in South Dakota, Werner said he left the animal where it was shot and called the local game warden.
Werner said the animal had an old trapping injury on its foot, where it was missing a couple toes and part of its foot pad.
On another foot, the animal had a trapping device. Werner believes the animal was trapped and was able to break free of the chains that kept him immobilized.
Werner said if the lab testing results show the animal to be a dog-coyote hybrid, he will be able to take the animal home.
Officials with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service were unable to comment on the ongoing investigation.
Exposing the Big Game 
Reblogged this on The Extinction Chronicles.
After he shot the animal he could tell it was a wolf. But the hunter admitted that before the shot, it seemed like a bigger and darker coyote. HELLO! That would be a good time to not get trigger happy.
Maybe he can hide behind the McKittrick Policy. That means someone might not be charged with shooting a member of an endangered species if the hunter didn’t know the animal’s identity at the time of the killing.
He kind of wondered before he pulled the trigger. Not sure where iffy falls in the decision-making. Buy I’m not counting on justice for the unfortunate wolf.
It would be nice; don’t hold your breath, though. Even though he gave up the “trophy” he still had to pose with the poor dead wolf on his tailgate first…
Of course he posed for the photo. He couldn’t miss that moment of triumph. It takes a real hero to shoot an unarmed animal from a safe distance.
God these people are johnny-on-the-spot when it comes to killing wildlife – wolves, and wolverines, never seen in some of these states in decades, and yet the first thing they do is kill them, instead of appreciate them.
In this case it’s because he was out shooting coyotes for sport …
Wow .. dude this poor wolf had ties missing and his footpad to get out of a trap then escapes and you have to kill this beautiful being because you were hunting for coyotes
What’s up about killing coyotes actually they are more important for the environment then you !
Got your trophy shot so that all that matters, not this animal’s life ?