wolves

State Museum Confirms Wild Gray Wolf in New York

December 9, 2025 by Editorial Staff 2 Comments

Scientists from the New York State Museum, in collaboration with researchers from Princeton University and the Northeast Ecological Recovery Society, have confirmed the first documented case of a wild gray wolf south of the St. Lawrence River in decades.

The confirmation is based on analysis of a canid shot by a hunter outside Cooperstown in Cherry Valley, Otsego County in December 2021. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced its confirmation the animal was a wolf in 2022. [Read more…] about State Museum Confirms Wild Gray Wolf in New York

Bill Would Provide Better Protection to Wolves in New York

May 20, 2025 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

Wolves, a species protected under both state and federal law, once roamed widely throughout New York but were driven to extinction in the early 1900s due to deliberate extermination. As apex predators, wolves play a critical ecological role in maintaining balanced and healthy ecosystems. Given adequate protections, they are capable of traveling hundreds of miles to reclaim their historic range. [Read more…] about Bill Would Provide Better Protection to Wolves in New York

NYS Legislature Passes New York Wildlife Crossings Act

May 14, 2024 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The State Assembly and State Senate have both acted to pass the New York Wildlife Crossings Act, which was sponsored by Senator Leroy Comrie and Assembly Member Robert Carroll. The bill requires the Department of Transportation (DOT) to assess roadways “in the state for potential wildlife crossings to improve wildlife habitat connectivity, reduce wildlife vehicle collisions, and increase public safety for New York motorists.” [Read more…] about NYS Legislature Passes New York Wildlife Crossings Act

New Bill Introduced to Protect Wolves in New York

April 6, 2024 by Editorial Staff 2 Comments

If passed, new legislation (S.7927A/A.08295A), sponsored by Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Assembly Member Robert Carroll, would direct the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to collect data about canids which have specified characteristics (coyotes and wolves for example) and are killed by hunters and trappers in New York. [Read more…] about New Bill Introduced to Protect Wolves in New York

State Legislature Passes Bill Banning Wildlife Killing Contests

June 22, 2023 by Editorial Staff 3 Comments

On June 21, 2023, the New York State Assembly passed legislation carried by Deborah Glick, Chair of the Committee on Environmental Conservation to ban wildlife killing contests in New York State. This bill was passed by the State Senate in early June, carried by Senator Timothy Kennedy. If the legislation is signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul as expected, New York State will become the ninth state to ban wildlife killing contests. [Read more…] about State Legislature Passes Bill Banning Wildlife Killing Contests

How Animals Stay Warm In Winter

March 18, 2023 by Guest Contributor 2 Comments

To survive the cold of winter, some animals take advantage of protected habitats, such as wooded areas or under a blanket of insulating snow. Ruffed grouse, for example, fly into piles of loose snow and create roosting cavities to rest in when not foraging. Mice and other small mammals remain active in tunnels under the snow. [Read more…] about How Animals Stay Warm In Winter

Adirondack Conservation News: 5 Things You Should Know

December 3, 2022 by Justin Levine Leave a Comment

An Adirondack environmentalist leaves UN Climate talks in Egypt more determined

The Adirondack Council’s Forever Adirondacks Campaign Director Aaron Mair was recently in Egypt for the COP27 climate meeting. Mair said it was great to hear from Indigenous communities, but also noted that this COP meeting was highly attended by non-renewable energy concerns. But Mair came back more determined to have a positive impact on the climate change front. [Read more…] about Adirondack Conservation News: 5 Things You Should Know

Coyote or Wolf? Learn to Spot The Difference

October 15, 2022 by Editorial Staff 2 Comments

Last month, genetic testing confirmed that a canid killed by a hunter in Otsego County in 2021 was a wolf. The New York State Department of Conservation (DEC) has documented a few wolves and wolf hybrids over the last 20 years in New York.

In most cases, analyses indicated these animals were released from captivity, but wild wolves are present in portions of Ontario and Quebec, and it is possible for these animals to travel into New York. [Read more…] about Coyote or Wolf? Learn to Spot The Difference

Advocates Urge NY Officials Not To Remove Wolf From Endangered Species List

October 1, 2022 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

Adirondack Council has called upon the NYS Dept. Environmental Conservation to drop a previously announced plan to remove the gray wolf from New York’s endangered species list. [Read more…] about Advocates Urge NY Officials Not To Remove Wolf From Endangered Species List

DEC: Animal Killed By Hunter In Cooperstown Was A Wolf

September 28, 2022 by Peter Bauer 2 Comments

On September 21st, 2022, after a second independent DNA study confirmed that the wolf killed outside of Cooperstown, in Otsego County, NY, was really a wolf, the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) reversed course and announced the wolf was indeed a wolf.

DEC had been calling the Cooperstown wolf a coyote since it examined the dead animal in December 2021 and conducted a DNA study in early 2022. DEC publicly called the wolf a coyote in July in many news reports, after the release of an independent DNA study by Trent University in Canada, organized by the Northeast Ecological Recovery Society (NERS).

The Trent University DNA analysis found that the Cooperstown wolf had 98% wolf genes. [Read more…] about DEC: Animal Killed By Hunter In Cooperstown Was A Wolf

38 Groups Call On DEC To Protect Wolves in New York State

September 21, 2022 by Peter Bauer Leave a Comment

The plot continues to thicken around the killing of an 85-pound wolf near Cooperstown in December of 2021 and the response by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

Under state and federal law, a wolf that wanders into New York State is protected under the Endangered Species Act. The wolf shot near Cooperstown by a coyote hunter clearly enjoyed no such protections. [Read more…] about 38 Groups Call On DEC To Protect Wolves in New York State

Jack Sheppard: Civil War Vet, Panther Hunter, Adirondack Guide & Steamboat Operator

November 7, 2021 by Roy Crego 9 Comments

Jack Sheppard came to the Fulton Chain region of the Western Adirondacks after roaming the West as a youth and then served in the Union Army during the Civil War.

These experiences equipped Sheppard with the knowledge, skills, and social network to become a successful guide and enabled him to shift his occupation from guide to innkeeper, to builder, to businessman. He never married or raised a family, but when he left the Adirondacks in 1892 he left behind a long list of devoted friends that reads like a virtual who’s who of Adirondack history. [Read more…] about Jack Sheppard: Civil War Vet, Panther Hunter, Adirondack Guide & Steamboat Operator

Poetry: Wild Predator Attacks

March 27, 2021 by Edward Zahniser 1 Comment

Wild Predator Attacks

What’s the chance that you will
be attacked by a wild predator?

Slim. Attacks are so rare each one
rates its own listing on Wikipedia.

If the 20th Century was an indicator,
you’ll more likely die domestically.

Black bears, wolves, and mountain lions
killed fewer Americans than lightning,

bathtub drownings, or getting crushed
underneath falling vending machines.

The most recent reported black bear
attack in the Adirondack Mountains

(2018) came when a man hospitalized
after his ATV crashed lied, reporting

how he had fought off a black bear.

Coyotes: Decoding Their Yips, Barks, and Howls

June 28, 2020 by Guest Contributor 2 Comments

As the sunset colors fade from purple to black an eerie sound breaks the forest calm. It is not the long, low, slow howling of wolves that can be heard further north, but the group yip-howl of coyotes: short howls that often rise and fall in pitch, punctuated with staccato yips, yaps, and barks. [Read more…] about Coyotes: Decoding Their Yips, Barks, and Howls

wolves

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