While I dislike having to show a dead canid, the picture below reflects what appears to be a Wolf, found dead in the Greater Chicago Designated Marketing Area(DMA) in Grundy County, up toward the northern end of the state..........DNA testing is being done on the animal to determine its origen and species.......In December of 2014,.a female gray wolf was killed by a vehicle in LaSalle County(also part of thef Chicago DMA)................ ...Always fascinating to consider that these Illinois "prospecting Wolves likely wandered south out of Wisconsin (as the breeding Wolf population resides in northern Wisconsin, not in the southern tier----a good long jaunt into Illinois).............In the east, you see Coyotes that resemble the animal below,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,In the midwest, the Coyotes are Western Coyotes and as a rule do not grow as large and display as much girth as Wolves..............Note that the State of Illinois has recently put Wolves, Black Bears and Pumas on their Endangered List, affording these animals legal protections should they recolonize the region.........Some biologists are suggesting that about 14% of the land are of Illinois can support breeding populations of Wolves based on human, road and prey density requirements

http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/7/71/375720/another-wolf-illinois-really-maybe

A possible wolf was found dead near Morris on Friday (photo is from the Illinois Conservation Police.)

Wildlife biologist Bob Massey said that they were checking with Wisconsin officials because some of the characteristics were not consistent with pure wolf. More details will come shortly.

Here is the official word so far from Illinois Department of Natural Resources spokesman Chris Young:

A large, unidentified canine with characteristics of a wolf was found dead early Feb 13 along Nettle School Road north of Interstate 80 in Grundy County. The animal is in possession of IDNR biologists. It measured approximately 48 inches long from the tip of its nose to the rear. More information will be forthcoming on the cause of death once a necropsy is completed. Biologists are coordinating with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on genetic testing of the animal.

A WESTERN COYOTE SEEN IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO,,,,,,SMALLER, LEANER

AND LESS ROBUST THAN THE WOLF LIKE ANIMAL FOUND DEAD IN GRUNDY COUNTY AND THE FEMALE WOLF PREVIOUSLY FOUND DEAD IN LA SALLE COUNTY IN DECEMBER, 2014

Grundy and La Salle Counties are part of the Chicago DMA