Wolf Vs Coy Wolf

Each and every day there is an animal that walks within the shadows of humans. It often goes unnoticed by most humans, but their population is growing at alarming rates. Many wildlife biologists have said that this animal is the new top predator in the United States. That animal would be the Coy-wolf - a new four-legged hybrid cross between the Western Coyote and the Eastern wolf. With adaptive instincts from the early generations of the Western Coyote and the large skeletal and frame size of the Eastern Wolf, the Coy-wolf is a very new and dangerous species. Rather than preying on smaller animals like a coyote would do, the coy-wolf has the ability to target animals like deer, young moose, and other mid sized animals. With the ability to learn
from their surroundings and adapt to live within the means of that environment in both large urban areas as well as rural landscapes, many biologists find themselves intrigued and wanting to observe and examine these creatures. I personally am both captivated by this new hybrids ability, but at the same time alarmed by their instinctive skills and wolf-like traits to eat larger prey.
The documentary I watched was titled Nature: Meet the Coy-wolf. It is available to watch on Netflix and PBS, or it can also be rented through various video sites and stores. The documentary aired on January 22, 2014. The documentary was written by Siobhan Flanagan and Gary Lang, and was directed by Susan Fleming. It features real wildlife biologists Stan Gehrt and Nora Young. The documentary is primarily filmed in Ontario, Canada, but also has scenes from Chicago, Illinois; New York City, Ney York; and Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada.
For years we have seen more and more encounters with humans and wildlife. It started years ago when humans would see a coyote or wolf on the side of the road no longer afraid of the traffic, but rather accustomed to it. By the late 80’s there were a few reports starting to circulate of humans being bitten by coyotes. Throughout the 90’s more stories surfaced until in 2003 a young girl was bitten twice. A few years later in 2009 Taylor Mitchell was killed by a coyote attack. We have continued to allow these animals become more accustomed and acquainted with us. Many humans think that a creature like a coyote will never harm them, but the more we allow them to be exposed to our daily lives the more we are putting ourselves at risk.
The Coy-wolf has a skeleton that is significantly larger than that of a coyote, but still smaller compared to a wolf.
The head of a Coy-wolf is larger than a coyote, with teeth closer together allowing for a stronger bite, and the ability to hunt much larger prey. The documentary stated it best, “the Coy-wolf has the body and instinct like a coyote, but the hunting ability and teeth of a wolf.” If that statement is not alarming to humans, then we are far more doomed than I have predicted. Many humans see nothing wrong with throwing a wild animal such as a Coy-wolf a half sandwich in order to get a better look at the animal, but what they have just done is far worse than they could have imagined. That Coy-wolf now knows that humans will feed it, and it now sees humans as a food source. This very reason could perhaps be the reason why we now see wild hybrid breeds of coyotes living in downtown Chicago streets and
parks.
One very large criticism I have of the documentary is that there are currently no measures being taken to place these animals back into the wild where their natural habitat exists. There are wildlife biologists in the fields capturing grown coy-wolfs and their pups. These biologists will study the animals, take blood sample, microchip them and then place them back into the den or where they were found. I am not a wildlife biologist myself, but to me it would make sense to take these animals and place them in a wooded forest hundreds of miles away from the city rather than releasing them back into the same streets where children and small pets are playing. In Ontario, a male coy-wolf was shot after showing aggressiveness towards police officers that were responding to a nearby emergency. That male coy-wolf was trying to protect his den of newborn pups. This is happening in cities everywhere. As these animals continue to reproduce, their aggressiveness will only become stronger again putting humans at a greater risk. In Chicago, research is being conducted by Ohio State University to watch how the Coy-wolf is adapting to living in the city. I understand that this research is very valuable to better understand these animals, but I do not believe that we should put ourselves at risk, while at the same time allowing these animals to adapt even further to our lifestyles. If a pest like a skunk, raccoon, or opossum is captured in an urban area, animal control takes that animal to a destination to be released or the animal may be put down due to severe disease. In my opinion the same should be done with these new coy-wolves.
The documentary compared the Coy-wolf to both of its’ ancestors, the Western Coyote and the Eastern Wolf, in different aspects.
One area that really stood out to me is that a wolf pup will stay with its’ mother for up to 5 years before breaking off on its own to find territory. The new coy-wolves are now seeking their own territory after only two years of staying close to their mothers. These animals are maturing much quicker and able to adapt so quickly that they can now branch out twice as quickly as they otherwise would. This accelerated growth and development should also come as an alarm to humans and other species. As this group matures faster, they are no longer hesitating to reproduce as coy-wolves are now at a substantial
population.
Overall, this documentary served to be very educational to an individual, like myself, that is not aware of this issue. Living in a rural setting I am prone to encounter a coyote occasionally; however, I am not more educated and informed to understand this species if and when I do see them. As natural breeding and evolution continues to occur, we will see more hybrids like the coy-wolf appear in nature. We must continue to seek out information on these new species as they appear while at the same time protect ourselves and other humans from their dangers. The terminology in this documentary seemed to be very introductory and basic, which would make this documentary available to an expert on the issue as well as an individual that knows little to nothing of the species. There was some graphic content of wolves naturally preying on other species, so due to that content I would recommend this to individuals 13 an older.