Internet users are going bonkers about a 'wolf-like' creature that was shot near a ranch in Montana last week. While some theories suggest it is a young grizzly bear or a relative of Bigfoot, others say it has to be a werewolf.
US wildlife experts are also scratching their heads about the species of the animal. According to them, the animal might not be a wolf as its teeth were too short, front paws are small and claws are too large, according to BBC.
The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks (FWP), in a press release, said that it was a "young, non-lactating female and a canid, a member of the dog family that includes dogs, foxes, coyotes and wolves." They are waiting for the DNA results.
Wolf management specialist for Montana FWP, Ty Smucker, said that several things about the animal were odd. It has long ears, short legs, and an unusual fur coat, reported the website.
However, FWP has dismissed the possibilities of it being a direwolf, a prehistoric extinct species, or a Chupacabra, an animal of legends. "First off [dire wolf] was a song by the Grateful Dead from 1971. I know, I listened to it many times. Number two, it's a prehistoric animal, like mastodons and saber-toothed tigers; so it doesn't exist," a spokesman for the agency, Bruce Auchly, said.
He also said that it cannot be the legendary Chupacabra as it is too far not for that.
Others are also of the opinion that the mysterious creature can be a coywolf (a coyote wolf hybrid), or a wolfdog, which might have been bred in captivity and later released into the wild, according to BBC.
The creature was shot down by a rancher near the town of Denton after it came within several hundred meters of his livestock.
Hunting wolves is legal in the state if they threaten their property. Around 900 wolves are living across the state, according to Montana state wolf researchers.
