Great Wall wolf to be resettled in mountains

Source: Xinhua  |   2008-12-26  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

FORESTRY workers have caught a wild wolf near Badaling, a section of the Great Wall in northern Beijing, ending widespread fear among residents and travelers.

The adult wolf, caught on Tuesday afternoon, is being kept at a nearby safari park and will be later freed in uninhabited mountains away from the Great Wall, said a spokesman with the forestry department in Beijing's rural Yanqing County.

"We'll put it under quarantine for a couple of days to ensure it is healthy," the spokesman said.

Zoo workers said the wolf appeared healthy and was fed raw meat.

It was caught with a tranquilizer dart while it was eating bait at one of the traps forestry workers set in the mountains close to the wall.

"We were certain the wolf was alone. Probably it left its companions to search for food," said forestry worker Zhang Wenzhu.

Rumors that a wolf was wandering near the Great Wall caused widespread fear among residents over the past week.

"We set many traps in the nearby mountains last Friday, when we received a digital image of the wolf-like animal shot by a villager," said the forestry spokesman.

"We wouldn't have interfered had it been seen in a remote place," he said. "But we cannot put the safety of the Great Wall visitors at risk."

A survey conducted in 2000 found about 20 wolves in the mountains north of Beijing, said Wang Minzhong, a chief wildlife preservation specialist with the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Landscape and Forestry.

Wolves disappeared from the Beijing area in the 1950s, but there were occasional reports from farmers who had spotted the animals.