The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is investigating after a wolf was found shot in the head while stuck in a trap in the upper peninsula last month.
According to a DNR Conservation Officer bi-weekly report, the incident happened in District 1, which consists of the western Upper Peninsula between Oct. 7 and Oct. 20.
The report states that a conservation officer received a complaint from a local trapper who had caught two wolves in his traps. A local biologist was contacted and went to the scene to help release the wolves. The officer then checked the first wolf and found it was shot in the head while still in the trap, shortly before the officer's arrival. According to the report, the second wolf was still alive and well, and the biologist was able to release it while the officer was searching the area.
According to the DNR, the investigation is ongoing.
A third wolf was also caught in the trap a few weeks later in the same district. According to a separate report, an officer received a complaint of a trapper who had a wolf in a foot trap in Marquette County. The officer and a DNR biologist met with the trapper and located the wolf after dark.
According to the report, the "aggressive 80-pound male gray wolf was safely and successfully sedated, collared and released."
