Possible gray wolf sighted in New Mexico

The Associated Press reports that a possible gray wolf has been sighted on a ranch in northern New Mexico, raising the prospect that wolves may have migrated into the state from the Northern Rockies ,where they were reintroduced more than a decade ago.

There's been no confirmed gray wolf in the wild in New Mexico since the animals were exterminated from the state in the early and mid-1900s. The animal was seen several times and photographed on Vermejo Park Ranch, which is owned by media mogul Ted Turner. It was first spotted about a month ago, but government biologists have not been able to capture the animal to obtain genetic material to confirm whether it's a wolf.

A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman said that government agencies hoped to capture the animal on the ranch, attach a radio collar and then track it. A gray wolf in New Mexico would be protected by the federal Endangered Species Act.

Photo: Associated Press