LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Federal wildlife officials have confirmed that a gray wolf was shot and killed last fall in north-central Nebraska south of Bassett.
The Omaha World-Herald reports that the 81-pound male wolf was shot Nov. 16 by a rancher checking on his livestock.
Wildlife officials said the wolf had coloration like a coyote, but was much larger.
The rancher told authorities he had recently lost three yearling calves to what he suspected were coyote attacks.
The World-Herald learned of the killing through records it obtained from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which declined to prosecute the rancher because no criminal intent was found.
The incident was only the second confirmed case of a wolf being killed in Nebraska in more than a century.