Living with Wildlife in Illinois

Wolves are the largest wild canid in North America. Most have coats of grizzled gray or brown with lighter fur on the undersides. However, wolves may also have solid coats of black or white. They have bushy tails, narrow chests, long legs, and large feet.

• Average Length: 4.5 to 6 feet (including 15 to 20 inch tail)
• Average Height: 27 to 33 inches at the shoulder
• Average Weight: 60 to 130 pounds (adult male); 45 to 80 pounds (adult female)

Wolf tracks are approximately 4.5 to 5 inches in length and 3 to 3.5 inches wide. Unlike dog tracks, wolf tracks often appear with the hind track on top of the front track (direct registration).

Inexperienced observers can easily confuse coyotes, especially those with thick winter coats, with wolves. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has put together a valuable educational resource on canid identification. The site provides a chart describing the common identification characteristics of wolves, coyotes, and dogs, along with photos of the animals and their tracks.

Gray wolves were extirpated from Illinois before 1860. There are no resident populations of wolves in Illinois. Wolves are currently listed as threatened species Federally and in Illinois.

There have been four confirmed gray wolves in Illinois since 2000. Genetic information available from two of the wolves indicates that the animals came from the Eastern Distinct Population Segment, most likely from Wisconsin.

• A male shot during a coyote hunt in Marshall County in 2002.
• A male killed by a vehicle immediately north of Chain O’Lakes State Park in Lake County in 2005.
• A male shot in Pike County in 2005.
• A male killed by a coyote hunter in JoDaviess County in 2008.

If you believe you have seen this animal, please report the sighting to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.