Rare Gray Wolf Appears in Western MassachusettsAnnotated

Stephanie Reitz in Springfield, Massachusetts
Associated Press

March 5, 2008

When more than a dozen lambs and sheep were slaughtered on a Shelburne, Massachusetts, farm last fall, wildlife officials suspected either a wolf that had escaped from captivity or a rogue mutt on a hungry rampage.

How did a wild eastern gray wolf, a rare species that has not been found in the state in more than a century, find its way to western Massachusetts?

According to the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, the wild gray wolf was considered extinct in Massachusetts by about 1840.

New England’s large stretches of interconnected woods, mountainous regions, and rural farmland offer good north-south corridors for wolves on the move.

Shelburne, about 8 miles (12 kilometers) west of Greenfield in Franklin County, is one such area. It is surrounded by miles of state forests, ski areas, and open acreage. (See map.)