Numerous photos and videos of an animal that's thought to be either a wolf or coyote and is often seen hanging out in the middle of Highway 637 have been making their rounds on social media over the past week.
Many speculate the animal is being fed by passerby on the highway that leads to Killarney, a popular tourist area south of Sudbury, and it has become habituated to humans.
In fact, several people actually admitted to feeding the animal in the comments section under a video shared by another local media outlet.
Sudbury.com contacted the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry to see if officials there could provide more information.
MNRF district resource liaison specialist Karrie Bennett said in an email that based on a photo and video sent to her by Sudbury.com, she can't definitively tell if it's a wolf or coyote.
However, she said, the animal looks healthy and is not showing signs of being rabid. Bennett said she agrees it's likely the animal is being fed, and “as it received rewards, it will stick around.”
The MNRF advises people against feeding wild animals, she said.
Doing this can cause a laundry list of issues, including disrupting animals' normal travel and migration routes, being unhealthy for the animal (human food is often wrong for wildlife) and increasing the risk of property damage.
Bennett also said that feeding animals near roads increases their risk of being hit by vehicles.
