Gray wolf no longer endangered, or gray
Good news for people who love predatory animals. The US Fish and Wildlife Service has officially removed the western Great Lakes gray wolf from the endangered species list. Native to Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin, the once struggling timber wolf population, down to just a few hundred back in 1974, is up to 4,000 and climbing. Not everybody is celebrating, however. Evolutionary biologists have discovered that what is now being called the native "gray wolf," is really an imposter -- sort of. The western Great Lakes gray wolf no longer exists in pure form. The "new" wolf population is the product of hybridization between the native wolves, Canadian wolves and coyotes.
While scientists and sentimentalists have both noted that this is freaking weird, it's hard to say if anything could (or should) be done to prevent it. I say just be happy that there are wolves again.












