The mysterious and elusive creature dubbed “Gary the Wolf-Dog,” whose image was shared on social media from various people in Anchorage, died in October; the Alaska Department of Fish And Game has done a DNA test on the animal.
ADF&G collected samples and sent them to the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory (VGL) at UC Davis for a wolf-dog hybridization test, “recognizing the curiosity of both the public and ADF&G biologists alike,” the department said.
“Due to the potential for broad variation in physical and behavioral traits in a hybridized animal, a determination cannot be made by observations alone. It is illegal to possess wolves or wolf hybrids in Alaska; how the animal ended up suddenly appearing on the streets of Anchorage, and where or how she lived her days until then, remains a mystery,” the department said. Evidently, Gary was a female.
“Results from the UC Davis lab returned this week and indicate that ‘Gary; tested positively as a wolf hybrid. The degree of hybridization, or percentage of wolf DNA, is not determined. The wolf-hybrid test consists of 3-4 types of assays and analyses and can detect hybrids within 3 generations.”
“Anchorage is home to many species of wildlife, but wolves are rarely seen. The behavior of this animal, including traveling across the city on main streets and sidewalks at all hours of the day and night in close proximity to people, would be extremely unusual for a wolf—most wild animals try to keep their distance. If you see an animal behaving unusually, personal safety is most important,” ADF&G said.
Police found the carcass of the animal on Oct. 7 alongside Minnesota Blvd. It weighed about 67 pounds at the time.
A wolf hybrid is produced by mating a domestic dog with a gray wolf, eastern wolf, red wolf, or other wolf. Statistics show that wolf hybrids are difficult to manage, are likely to be more dangerous and more prone to attacking both humans and other animals. Wolf hybrids hold the No. 6 spot for dog-bit fatalities by breed.
Wild animals, such as this wolf mix, have no place in urban areas and usually end up like this one – a carcass along side the road.
So…there are 5 breeds of dog more likely to attack than a wolf-hybrid? On the face of it it seems like that on an official level, wolf hybrids are being disproportionately demonized. Kind of a smoke a pack a day guy here saying, “hey knock off the fear mongering”. Recognize what is front of you and be ready for anything.
The number of attacks doesn’t prove wolf hybrids are ‘less likely’ to attack. Given how few of them there are compared to most common dog breeds, it probably proves the opposite.
Back in the day, the “common-sense” solution to this problem was to give long guns and boxes of ammo to the Boy Scouts … Problem Solved!
Nowadays, we dispatch teams of high-priced biologists, subject matter experts, legal team, HR & DEI team, and a PR Consultants. What a waste!
Amazing sells panties that don’t bunch up so badly. Try them out! They picked the mutt up dead and sent tissue samples out for testing. That’s all. Chill out.
I’m not convinced turning Boy Scouts with rifles loose on the streets of Anchorage is a ‘common-sense’ solution to anything at all. I was a Boy Scout in the 1950’s, and our troop leaders certainly didn’t hand out guns and ammo.
Wolf hybrids are illegal? Oops. I had one and he was the most gentle giant of all the dogs we ever had. His name was Axle (he once got his head stuck on a tire rim and I had to get him to the vet to get it out).
I had one, too. She was extremely territorial and would not tolerate other dogs wandering by, but otherwise was a wonderful pet.
German Shepherds look and act more like wolves than any other breed of dogs. They way they trot, scramble, dominate in a dog fight, and have similar body traits by physical appearance. Yet, the German Shepherd is one of the most trainable, loyal, and intelligent breeds on the planet. It makes me wonder if any wolf DNA was used to introduce that breed 125 years ago?
GSDs are also good at sneaking up on people.
They are born stalkers.
All dogs are decended from wolves. German Shepherds are just closer to the source.
Question: How much did the State of Alaska spend of our PFDs on this? Why did we even do this? Was the DNA sample escorted to the UC Davis by an AK employee from the Department? Bottom line: What the H did it even matter?
Agreed.
According to over half of the members of the Alaska Legislature, you don’t own the PFD. It belongs to the State and they can use it for any cockamamie thing they desire.
I’m sad to say Jesse Bjorkman was re-elected to the Senate. His goal is to grow government paid for with our PFD. He won his seat with outright lies and ‘half-truths’ (more lies) to uninformed voters. We had the chance to ‘punish’ him for being a demorat campaigning with a ‘R’ by his name, but he was rewarded with Dark Money and democrat support.😡