First Wolf in Iowa in 89 years Killed in Buchanan County By:Â By Orlan Love, The Gazette
FAIRBANK, Iowa — A coyote hunter in February shot a wolf near Fairbank in northwest Buchanan County — the first documented wolf in Iowa since at least 1925, according to the Department of Natural Resources.
The confirmation of the animal as a wolf, by DNA testing, closes the circle on big predators that, though once exterminated, have re-entered Iowa, at least in small numbers — black bear, mountain lion and now the wolf.
“I was surprised but not that surprised,” said DNR furbearer specialist Vince Evelsizer, noting that both Wisconsin and Minnesota have substantial wolf populations.
“Large animals can cover great distances, and state lines mean nothing to them,” he said.
Evelsizer’s lack of surprise was foretold in the last paragraph of an annual update of a gray wolf status report written last summer: “If the current trend continues, I think it is only a matter of time before a validated wild gray wolf is killed in the state,” he wrote.
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