It will take three to six months to determine whether an animal killed Tuesday at Franklin Island Conservation Area is a wolf, a large coyote or a hybrid animal with characteristics of both, Missouri Department of Conservation experts say.
A hunter who has asked the department not to disclose his identity was bow hunting for deer at about 8 a.m. when the animal came into range, Cooper County conservation agent Mike Abdon said. Coyotes are in season and the hunter had a permit, so he shot what he thought might be a state-record coyote, Abdon said.
“The reason he shot this animal was that he thought it was an above-average size coyote that would make a good mount,” Abdon said. By the time Abdon arrived in Boonville — the hunter called to report the kill about 10:30 a.m. — there was a crowd milling around the hunter’s pickup truck.
“I wasn’t quite for sure what it was,” Abdon said. “It looked like a coyote, but it didn’t.” The animal weighed 81 pounds — the largest coyote on record nationally is 74 pounds — and Abdon ordered it taken to the department’s regional office in Columbia for testing. Department biologists said it was not fully mature, Abdon said. Continue reading more…. Article source columbiatribune.com