Talk:Shunka Warakin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The article, where it refers to the beast killed in McCone, seems to be a bit misleading.
All newspaper articles (some available on the web) make note of two key facts that lead to believe this is probably a wolf-dog hybrid.
First, the creature was not an experienced hunter. All livestock was killed in a "messy and inefficient" way, quoting this article:
[url][[/url]] "It leaves a track like a small wolf, or a dog, or a wolf-hybrid, but its killing habits are inefficient, nothing like the surgical lethality of a wolf taking meat from a herd of domestic sheep. [...] The messiness of the attacks suggested domestic dogs, too, a whole lot of killing instinct untempered by skill. "
It's hard to imagine that a genuine wild creature wouldn't know how to attack and kill its prey quickly and efficiently.
Second, when the creature was finally shot, the problem in identifying it was not because it didn't look like a known animal, but because it looked as a wolf with reddish orange coat coloring that is more common to the wolves of Great Lakes region, or even Canadian wolves, and some red in its coat combined with apparent lack of hunting skill suggested it was a dog-wolf hybrid or a wolf that was bred in captivity. A sample was sent to the lab for a definite answer based on DNA.
I believe the wording in this Wiki article (bold) misleads the reader.
"Between December 2005 through November 2006, a shunka warak'in-like or large unusual-looking wolf-like beast killed 120 sheep in McCone and surrounding counties in Montana. It was shot on November 2, 2006, in Garfield County, Montana, and, as of December 10, 2006, the 106-pound reddish-yellow beast has been unable to be identified by Montana wildlife officials."