Genetic testing confirms Anchorage’s roaming canine ‘Gary’ was a wolf hybrid

Genetic testing confirms that a roaming canine that briefly captivated Anchorage this fall was a wolf hybrid, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game said Tuesday.

In October, the animal — a grayish black, wolflike creature — gained fame for its wide-ranging travels around Anchorage.

A Facebook group dubbed the canine “Gary,” and members posted sightings. The animal popped up at all hours of the day, loping through busy traffic and trotting along quiet trails — extremely unusual behavior for a wolf. On Oct. 7, the animal was hit and killed by a car on Minnesota Drive, and animal control and wildlife officials said “Gary” was actually an older adult female and “did not exhibit the physical characteristics expected with a wolf.”

Wildlife officials sent samples to a California veterinary genetics laboratory for testing because a determination about whether the animal was a wolf, dog or hybrid can’t be made by physical observations alone, Fish and Game said in a statement. The agency said the testing of samples recognized “the curiosity of both the public and ADF&G biologists alike.”

The testing found that the canine was a wolf hybrid, but the percentage of wolf DNA remains undetermined, the statement said.

“It is illegal to possess wolves or wolf hybrids in Alaska; how the animal ended up suddenly appearing on the streets of Anchorage, and where or how she lived her days until then, remains a mystery,” Fish and Game said.