Sightings Of Wolf-Like Creatures Reported In Central Illinois

INDUSTRY, IL — A farmer in Industry, Illinois claims dozens of wolf-like creatures are making their mark in acres of his woods. The Chicago Tribune reported Jay Smith said as many as 40 wolves, or animals resembling wolves but bigger and darker, are in Industry, adding to the area's small population of 500 people.

Although the Tribune reported that most experts say evidence supports the creatures being coyotes, wild dogs, or hybrid-type animals, Smith caught the attention of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Field Museum in Chicago and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

Smith has posted videos on YouTube called “Kanahoe wolves of Forgottonia," as the news report said “Kahahoe” is a word that just came to Smith, while “Forgottonia” is a reference to a small part of west-central Illinois.

Smith is convinced the animals he captured on his trail camera are wolves, saying, "“We basically have Grand Central Station for wolves here,” according to the Tribune.

However, when it comes to past "wolf" sightings, a wolf-like canine found dead along a Grundy County road north of I-80 Patch reported in February 2015 was, indeed, a wolf. Patch reported DNA tests confirmed the large wolf-like canine found along a road near Morris was a female gray timber wolf.

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Nearly two years before that discovery, a Plainfield reader took to Patch's Facebook page in March 2013 to report an unusual sighting, saying they saw a large group, much bigger than coyotes, believed to be wolves on Indiana Boundary Road between Renwick and County Line roads

According to the IDNR, wolves were no longer living in Illinois by 1860. The organization is unaware of any self-sustaining wolf packs or populations in the state, but noted that for the last decade or so, there have been documented reports of wolves moving through or temporarily living in Illinois.

You can watch Smith's videos on YouTube and decide for yourself what the animals are.

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