Everyone loves a good mystery, and this one seems to fit that bill. Voyageurs Wolf Project, a group dedicated to understanding the ecology of wolves in the Greater Voyageurs Ecosystem around Voyageurs National Park, shared footage from one of their game cameras showing an unknown canine-like animal, asking the public if they had any thoughts on what it could be.
We know social media loves a good mysterious canine story…so check out this animal we got on camera last winter.
— Voyageurs Wolf Project (@VoyaWolfProject) November 5, 2024
So, what do you think this animal is? We whole-heartedly welcome outlandish speculation, conspiracy theories, and technically possible though highly-improbable… pic.twitter.com/tRs8SY7UDi
“So, what do you think this animal is? We whole-heartedly welcome outlandish speculation, conspiracy theories, and technically possible though highly-improbable explanations.” – Voyageurs Wolf Project
As they point out, the animal does seem quite coyote-like, but some features appear strange upon further inspection. The ears don’t quite match those of a coyote, the snout is a bit too robust, and the body seems slightly too big to be a coyote from that area. So is it a coyote, a wolf, a dog, or something entirely different? Perhaps it’s a rare hybrid, or maybe it’s just some interesting-looking pet that escaped. A coywolf, perhaps?
It seems highly possible that this is just a funky-looking Eastern Coyote. Maybe its ears were chewed by its siblings when it was young, maybe it’s been injured. Eastern Coyotes are different from those hailing from the west. They aren’t even pure coyote. A study led by Stony Brook University found that of 462 Eastern Coyotes tested, the average genetic breakdown consisted of 64% coyote, 13% gray wolf, 13% eastern wolf, and 10% domestic dog.
Wolf and mountain lion populations in northeast North America were near completely wiped out in the mid-1800’s, providing a clear path for the coyotes of the west to begin moving east. As they migrated north of the Great Lakes, they encountered the desperate wolf populations and, with one thing leading to another, were able to create hybrid offspring. The Eastern Coyote is different from its western counterpart in both its behavior and its physiology, oftentimes at least 10 pounds heavier and occasionally reaching up to 60-70 pounds (females are typically 35-40lbs and males 45-55lbs, though they can get bigger).
It seems pretty likely that this is just a larger Eastern Coyote with slightly funky ears. This was the only video captured by the Voyageurs Wolf Project, so the animal was likely just moving through the area. We may never know exactly what it is.