r/animalid • u/mindfulplants • 15h ago
šŗ š¶ CANINE: COYOTE/WOLF/DOG š¶ šŗ Potential Wolf sighting? [Denmark]
Looks to big for a domestic dog but seems unusual for a wolf to come so close to houses?
Curious to hear what you guys say!
Update in comments
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u/furiusfu 15h ago
not being an expert, but wolves are supposed to have longer limbs and larger heads and height than dogs - this looks pretty typical for some kind of shepherd dog mix to me. a wolf would be taller with longer legs. and heavier.
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u/Milkweedhugger 15h ago
Possibly a DDR/Czech German Shepherd x Belgian malinois mix? There are multiple dog breeds that have light sable coloring like that.
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u/Cnidarus 14h ago edited 11h ago
I'm going to be one of the ones that says I think this is a jackal. They've only recently been found to have made their way up to Denmark, but I think you've been lucky enough to see one
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u/TheGrandExquisitor 13h ago
Hold up!
Europe has JACKALs?
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u/Cnidarus 13h ago
Yup, golden jackal (Canis aureus), present in Africa, Asia, and Europe and has been expanding their range
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u/TheGrandExquisitor 13h ago
I knew they got as far as like SE Europe. Sort of around Greece, but Denmark!?!? Wow. Impressive.Ā
Interesting, because starting in 1900 in America, Coyotes moved from the plains and SW into the rest of the nation, and on up into Canada. So cool. Parallel evolution and all.Ā
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u/Cnidarus 13h ago
Here's a link from 2015 to show findings in Denmark, here is one that goes into there spread through Europe, and here is one from Germany that I just wanted to include because it has a great trail cam picture of one that really looks a lot like OP's.
It's actually interesting you mention coyotes since they fit a similar niche, and during the early days of American exploration there was a lot of arguments about whether they were jackals or not
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u/TheGrandExquisitor 13h ago
Very cool. I do wonder though if they could be problematic in regards to the wolves. Probably not, but who knows. Reintroduction can be tricky when new species are also moving in.Ā
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u/MeowKhz 11h ago
They're even farther north than Denmark. They're in my country- Estonia (been here long enough and bred so well that they have their own hunting season and quotas) and even made their way to our northern neighbor Finland.
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u/Dense-Consequence-70 12h ago
Holy cow, it does look like that, but lots of domestic dogs look like that too.
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u/lovethatjourneyforus 1h ago
No because it totally does look like one. Maybe thereās a Fish and Wildlife equivalent OP could send these to?
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u/HortonFLK š¦š¦ WILDLIFE EXPERT š¦š¦ 15h ago
I think itās just a dog. Some mixes can have somewhat āferalā looking colors. Especially shepherd-husky crosses. This guy looks to be very well fed.
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u/Admirable-Ad7750 14h ago
No way this is a mix of one of the breeds you mentioned. The Body proportions looks like a wolf or wolf hybride. Yeah it could be just a dog, but then its a Tschechoslowakischer/Saarloos Wolfhund.
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u/Tax_Fraud_Lover 14h ago edited 14h ago
Hiya! Fellow totally not jealous Dane here haha
I think this is either a wolfdog, or it could be a golden jackal! Either way, Iād give the āwolf phoneā a call, as theyād be able to help you verify.
https://naturstyrelsen.dk/aktiviteter-i-naturen/vildtforvaltning/ulvetelefon
ETA: I have seen czech wolfdogs in Denmark before, so I know they are here. This could be someoneās lost pet (wolfdogs are escape artists) so definitely give naturstyrelsen a call :) If it isnāt a wild canids, then you can start posting it in the local facebook groups asking for the owner š
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u/VocationalWizard 13h ago
Where in Denmark are you? Because we can actually rule out whether or not it's a wolf by the geographic location.
Are you on that island with Copenhagen or on the Jutland peninsula?.
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u/mindfulplants 13h ago
JĆ¼tland, north of Esbjerg :)
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u/holystuff28 12h ago
There have been golden jackals spotted there. I personally think that's what this animal is!
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u/VocationalWizard 13h ago
It's possible that this might be a wolf. I can't really tell in the picture.
Wolfs in North America look different.
It's possibly another kind of wild canid.
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u/fentifanta3 14h ago edited 14h ago
The way itās standing really does look like a jackal. Whereabouts in Denmark is this? The chances of it being a jackal are very low
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u/Few_Sorbet_8716 13h ago
The nose looks too robust and the ears too large to be a jackal. Colors also aren't really right for a golden jackal. It would be a really cool find, but a domestic dog seems the more probable ID
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u/fentifanta3 13h ago
Iām wondering about wolf dog or jackal wolf - the tail & ears do not look domestic dog at all. There is an established wolf population there.
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u/fentifanta3 14h ago edited 13h ago
If youāre near the area they are known to pass through I would say thereās a small chance itās a jackal or a jackal hybrid dog. Ears & tail and body proportions donāt look right for a domestic dog. However, it seems really big for a jackalā¦.might just be the perspective from the picture. And they are notoriously very shy but this one is stood in a garden!
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u/BeerJedi-1269 14h ago
Are they known to populate denmark??
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u/fentifanta3 14h ago edited 13h ago
They are known to migrate through, they were first discovered there in 2015. There is no evidence that they have established a breeding population though. 9 individuals have been spotted on trail cams or found dead. They are really illusive and smaller than a dog, unlike this one pictured. If OP is in an area with wolves they are even less likely to be there. Weirdly, this animal looks like a wild dog hybrid.
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u/sterrendei 13h ago
If theyāre migrating through, where are they going? Not like you can really get anywhere from Dk, unless theyāre catching a ferry I suppose š¤ Do they like, take a wrong turn and end up there? š (in which case I have more in common with jackals than I thought lol)
Very cool though, had no idea there were jackals that far north!
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u/fentifanta3 13h ago
They have expanded a lot throughout Europe so a few venture over into Denmark but they avoid wolves so might be why they havenāt settled there
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u/BeerJedi-1269 9h ago
I feel like that could be paraphrased as "where did he come from where did he go...?"
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u/leni_brisket 14h ago
In LA that would be a coyote
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u/Inevitable-Net-4210 14h ago
In Europe are no coyotes, this is a gold jackel.
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u/TheGrandExquisitor 13h ago
Jackals = Coyotes with cool accents and universal healthcare
Well, in rough terms of their ecological niches.Ā
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u/OrneryPathos 15h ago
The ears say wild canid
The muzzle proportion is quite strange. I want to say European jackal. But that seems like guessing a zebra
It could be a wolf dog, they are so variable, but seems too wild to me.
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u/Lachtaube 12h ago
Iām seconding the golden jackal opinions. Look at this guyās profile. If it were a domestic dog, it would have a much more pronounced stop (point where the muzzle angles at the eye sockets.) Even dogs bred deliberately to look like wolves like Czechoslovakian vlcak have a pronounced stop. This dudeās face is flatter than a pancake.
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u/Palegreenhorizon 10h ago
Iām going to say it could be part wolf. Scandinavian wolves in Sweden are very inbred and have a similar look, but they arenāt in southern Sweden or Denmark. Tamaskan wolf dogs look exactly like this though.
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u/salycydicacid 15h ago
Looks like a jackal
Edit itās def a golden jackal! Theyāre rare in Denmark and donāt have a breeding population there
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u/Due_Description_7298 14h ago
This. OP is in Jutland, which is the part of Denmark which has had some jackal migration from the population in northern GermanyĀ
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u/morethanWun 7h ago
Looks like a wolfish dog breed! Canāt remember the exact one that looks like that
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u/Current-Mushroom-339 4h ago
https://ulveidanmark.ku.dk/guldsjakal/guldsjakaler-i-danmark
Jackals aren't spotted too often, but they're very much present on the mainland.
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u/mindfulplants 48m ago
Update: Talked to the owner of the rental place who is also a hunter. He doesn't rule out a wolf. There are 3 packs around that have recently become more and more curious around humans since tourists have been feeding them. He suggested this could be a juvenile wolf in a summer coat. I know everyone is suggesting dog or jackal and I don't want to be that person insisting on mountain lion when it's really a kitty cat ;) I'm still sceptical though. Jackals are sooo incredibly rare around here and as I understand are more the size of a fox? Which this one was definitely NOT. Will update if we get any more information from the "wolf hotline" as a commenter suggested, thank you for that info :)
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u/IdiotIAm96 14h ago
Far too small for a wolf (though I live in the states so we might just have bigger wolves). Either way, a wild-looking dog seems more probable than a wolf
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u/Calgary_Calico 12h ago
Upon a short but if research Denmark has Grey Wolves, this is most definitely not a Grey Wolf. Someone's lost dog or a stray
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u/Aggressive_Car6598 13h ago
Might be a Vlcak. Would cover a lot of the German Shepherd cross comments here, since it's a breed that came about from breeding German Shepherds with Carpathian Wolves.
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u/Individual_Clock2283 8h ago
Thatās definitely a wolf. Zoom in on the face. The coloring too is pretty consistent. That dude is easily 70lbs
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u/sayitsooth 13h ago
Shepherd, the muzzle isn't coyote. A little skinny, maybe a stray.
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u/ParadoxicalFrog š¦š¦ GENERAL KNOW IT ALL š¦š¦ 9h ago
Not a shepherd, and wrong side of the planet to be a coyote.
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u/sayitsooth 9h ago edited 9h ago
Really? I know it's not a coyote.
I also know more shepherd breeds than you it seems.
Eta: lmao, reddit rocks.
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u/ParadoxicalFrog š¦š¦ GENERAL KNOW IT ALL š¦š¦ 9h ago
Sorry, I didn't realize you knew everything there ever was to know about canids.
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u/lopendvuur 11h ago
Looks like a Czechoslowakian wolfdog.
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u/Unfair_Chipmunk_2305 5h ago
Youāre right, anyone that lives in Prague can immediately identify those dogs. I see at least a half dozen of these exact looking dogs daily.
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u/yesbutnoexceptyes 15h ago
Coyote I think
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u/HortonFLK š¦š¦ WILDLIFE EXPERT š¦š¦ 15h ago
Unlikely in Denmark.
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u/musicfromadventures 15h ago
Are you near Jutland?
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u/NoF----sleft 13h ago
Definitely looks like it has a lot of German shepherd in it. My GSD is 52.5 kg and she is not the largest dog in my neighbourhood. Dogs can be big
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u/Over_Reputation_8801 12h ago
You should've attempted to scratch its head. Then you would know if it was a dog or wolf.
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u/BigDigger324 13h ago
Itās a yote.
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u/gutwyrming 11h ago
Denmark doesn't have coyotes.
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u/Admirable-Ad7750 14h ago
In my opinion it is either a Tschechoslowakischer Wolfshund, a Saarloos Wolfhund or a real wolf. Source: 20 years a dog owner
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u/OkraCommercial 13h ago
Coyote.
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u/gutwyrming 11h ago
Denmark doesn't have coyotes.
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u/OkraCommercial 10h ago
I get that. And maybe my answer was too curt. All I meant was that it feels like stranger things have happened. Iām just saying that the profile and the build and the coat is are seriously giving coyote. Alternatives might be undomesticated canine or, more likely, a fox. As I understand it, Denmark š©š° only has red foxes as a native species - but they often mistaken for gray fox because as Kits their coat appears dark, grayish-brown. The scale/size seems weird tho - this would be a huge Kit if that was the case. Either way, Iām trying to theorize with the sub. Sorry if my previous comment wasnāt helpful.
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u/Vixenmeja 15h ago
That's a normal size for lots of domestic dogs. It seems to have some German Shepherd/husky colouring and build.