Someone called the Park City Police Department earlier in August reporting that they saw an animal that resembled a wolf on the edge of the city.
A state wildlife official, though, said afterward that it highly unlikely that the animal that was spotted was a wolf.
The Police Department received the report at 9:17 a.m. on Aug. 11 from someone on Oak Wood Drive, a little-traveled street in the vicinity of Solamere. Department logs indicated that the person who contacted the police said the animal was not acting in an aggressive manner.
The animal reportedly was seen in a garage. It left the garage and walked down the street, the police were told. A police officer investigated but did not find any problems, according to police logs. Rick Ryan, a police captain, said it is likely the animal was a dog.
The state wildlife officer whose district includes Summit County said the Division of Wildlife Resources was not contacted about the case to his knowledge. Bruce Johnson said it is a “common occurrence” for someone to mistake a dog like a husky or a German shepherd for a wolf.
“I would be extremely shocked if it was a wolf,” Johnson said about the case in Park City, adding, “That is not normal wolf behavior.”
Johnson said wolves are reclusive and avoid places where there is lots of human activity.
Wolves have been migrating southward from the northwest corner of Wyoming since their reintroduction. Johnson said wildlife officials in 2010 confirmed, through tracks and attacks on livestock, a wolf had been living in the Chalk Creek region east of Coalville. The animal was not found, though, he said.
Johnson said a wolf was trapped in Morgan County in the last decade and there have been sightings along the Utah-Idaho border.