It did jog my memory on one thing- the Navy SEAL story. Do we have any evidence this is anything more than a tall tale by one man? If not, why does anyone still talk about it?

I have had wolves and wolf hybrids myself, and have treated and cared for those belonging to other people. My experiences with them have been decidedly mixed.

I have met wolf hybrids that are low-percentage wolf/ high percentage German Shepherd Dog, that are physically indistinguishable from purebred GSDs. Some of these dogs are even used in SAR work. But they are also more than four generations removed from the wolf cross, and the breeder/trainer ruthlessly culls the pups. Any that do not have absolutely stable temperaments are put down.

One of the police officers here used to have a police dog which he claimed was half GSD/half wolf - and the animal looked it. He was a good police dog, which, if he was really half wolf, makes him one in a million. Usually a direct cross is too nervous and shy to be trainable for police work, or any other work.

I suspect that that “half-wolf” police dog may have been half Malamute instead. Many people have dogs that they think are part wolf, when really they are part Malamute or some other northen breed and are “wolf” in appearance only.

My own experience with wolf hybrids was heartbreaking. I mentioned it in the original thread about the Montana mystery canid so I won’t go into it again here.

I will add that one of the best dogs I ever had was a coydog. He was part smooth collie and part coyote, and he was one of the smartest canines I ever had the fortune to know - and I have met literally thousands of dogs. He graced my life for nearly nine years. His intelligence was amazing. But even at that, I had to really keep an eye on him because he was prone to predatory behavior toward small animals, and even toward young children if they were running and making noise. He was fine with my own boys, who were teenagers, but I did not trust him around small children. He never bit anyone, but I believe that was because I never gave him an opportunity.

I love dogs. All dogs. Especially GSDs and other big “wolfy” types. Before I raised that litter of wolf hybrids, I did not really understand why so many people were against them. Those that I had cared for routinely, vaccinated, etc., were not vicious, although most of them were almost pathologically shy. One big 150-lb wolf/Mal hybrid was so terrified of tile floors that he refused to walk on them; one of the kennel attendants had to put him on a blanket and pull him back to an exam room on it. But he was not a mean animal.

Then I took a litter of wolf hybrids to raise, because the owner said he was going to shoot the mother drown the pups- and after that experience I understand why there are so many people lobbying against the unregulated ownership of wolves and wolf hybrids. Wolf hybrids are not dogs. Nor are they wolves. They are … something else. They are unpredictable, and unstable, and for every one that is trustworthy, there are thousands that are not. Especially around children. Even when they are not overtly vicious, they are dangerous, because you never know what will trigger an attack. I am not saying that they are all “bad”, but I do believe they are all dangerous, and the same strict regulations that apply (or should apply) to big cats and other wild animals in captivity should apply to them.

The Montana mystery animal was not even a hybrid; it was a pure wolf, and look at the damage it caused. People acquire animals like this thinking they will have a status symbol, or a piece of the wild, or something. They pay a small fortune for the animal, and then when it bites someone, or becomes hard to handle, they “free” it in a wilderness area rather than having it put down. Or else it escapes and they don’t want to risk possible fines and lawsuits so they keep quiet about the escape.

Owning a wolf hybrid is a big responsibility. Under no circumstances should they ever be “freed” into the wild. If for whatever reason someone decides not to keep one, and a sanctuary or safe home cannot be found for it, it should be put down. If people are not willing to face that up front, they have no business owning one. Some of them are great pets. Most are not. But they all are living creatures, and unless a potential owner is willing to make a lifetime commitment to them, they should not own one.

You said:

“Wolves and wolf-hybrids are not dogs. No one should acquire these animals unless they make a lifelong commitment to them - and that includes taking responsibility for the animal’s actions when it escapes.”

While I generally agree with you, I’d like to tell you that I personally knew some people that had a German Shepherd/Wolf mix. HUGE dog–big as a Saint Bernard.
I played with, petted and wrestled with this dog and it was gentle as a lamb. In fact, it was scared of their new baby’s cry and also thunderstorms. They left it out one day while they were gone and a storm came up. The dog TORE the wooden back door off its hinges and tried to crawl under the kid’s bunkbed, turning the whole thing over!
It finally succumbed to complications of a .22 bullet. (They lived way out in the country.) Someone had shot it and it was two days before it even showed any signs of being hurt. While I know old Cadence was probably the exception, he was a wonderful, friendly, loyal animal.

What is that saber-toothed cat in the cryptozoological art exhibit supposed to be? It looks like a Barbourofelis or a Thylacosmilus.

Shout out to Dr. Naish for setting us straight on #3.

Here is a link to the story from the Billings, Montana Gazette:

This is a direct quote from the Gazette article:

Though some assumed that the wolf had wandered from the Yellowstone ecosystem, that explanation didn’t quite look right, wildlife officials said at the time.

Samples for DNA analysis were sent to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Forensic Laboratory in Ashland, Ore., and to a genetics lab at the University of California Los Angeles.

The Ashland lab has the largest collection of DNA samples involving North American wolves, domestic wolves and wolf hybrids. The UCLA lab has been putting together a genetic family tree of Yellowstone’s wolves.

Tests at the labs determined that the animal wasn’t the product of a free-roaming wild wolf population in the Northern Rockies, the Midwest or Canada.

It didn’t have any DNA matching domestic dogs. Its maternal genes came from the Great Lakes, its paternal DNA was from the lower 48, and other DNA came from Alaska, the analysis showed.

The presence of three DNA sources from thousands of miles apart precludes the possibility of it being a wild wolf, state officials said.

“This individual displays classic characteristics of being a domestic wolf,” Dyan Straughan, a forensic scientist at the national forensics lab, said in a prepared statement.

Other characteristics, including its long claws and teeth in relatively good condition, also indicated the wolf wasn’t from the wild.

Montana law requires that any captive, domestic or hybrid animal that is more than half wolf be permanently tattooed and registered with Fish, Wildlife and Parks and that any escaped animal be reported. Since the law passed in 1985, 332 tattoo registration numbers have been issued and 60 people have registered captive or hybrid wolves, Sime said.

The domestic wolf shot in Garfield County didn’t have any tattoos. Tracing its origins might be difficult because the domestic wolf business can be hard to track.

“It’s a closeted industry that’s hard get a handle on,” Sime said.

The animal was not marked nor microchipped so tracing its owner would be pretty much impossible.

My guess is that it either escaped from someone who was afraid to report the escape, for fear of legal action against them due to its depredations, or, more likely, it became too much to handle, or bit someone, and was deliberately released. It can be hard enough for wolves to catch adequate prey, even within a pack, and for a lone wolf released from captivity it would have been even worse. This was a big animal, 106 pounds, and it would have required a lot of food. Being captive-bred it probably did not have good hunting skills, and the domestic livestock was too easy too pass up.

It’s a shame that the animal had to end this way. Not only for the animal itself, but for the stock that was terrorized and killed, and the people who owned the livestock.

Wolves and wolf-hybrids are not dogs. No one should acquire these animals unless they make a lifelong commitment to them - and that includes taking responsibility for the animal’s actions when it escapes.