A gray wolf killed by a Utah hunter may . have been Echo - a female who attracted national attention . after wandering through several states to become the first of . the protected animals seen at Arizona's Grand Canyon in 70 . years, officials said on Tuesday. The hunter, who was not named by authorities, told Utah . wildlife officers on Sunday that he accidentally shot and killed . a wolf equipped with a radio collar near the Arizona border . after mistaking it for a coyote. Wolves in Utah are protected under the U.S. Endangered . Species Act, which bans killing of imperiled animals without a . special permit, but coyotes in the state are allowed to be shot . on sight. The Arizona Game and Fish Department released this photo in October of the gray wolf that was spotted at the Grand Canyon - the first sighting of the species in more than 70 years there. It is believed that a gray wolf killed on Sunday in Utah may be the same creature, named Echo . Wandering lone wolf: The three-year-old female's epic journey from the Rockies to the Grand Canyon sadly came to an end on Sunday when she was shot dead by a hunter in Utah . The incident, which is coming under sharp criticism by . conservationists, is being investigated by federal and state . conservation officers as a possible violation of U.S. and Utah . wildlife laws, authorities said. Information gleaned from the radio collar shows the wolf . killed in Utah was a three-year-old female that was captured and . collared in January in northwest Wyoming, said Utah Division of . Wildlife Resources spokesman Mark Martinez. The wolf spotted near the northern rim of the Grand Canyon . in October was also a young female, which had apparently roamed . hundreds of miles south from the Northern Rockies, . according to an analysis of droppings near where she was seen. It may be weeks before additional testing reveals whether . the wolf killed in Utah is the same one, which was nicknamed . Echo in a contest. Echo was the first gray wolf seen in the Grand Canyon and the adjacent national forest since . the 1940s, when the last wolf there was killed as part of an . extensive eradication campaign, said Chris Cline with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It also marked the species'  farthest journey south. Wolves often roam vast distances in search of food and mates. But the farther they go, the less likely they are to find a mate, said Ed Bangs, who led recovery efforts for wolves in the Northern Rockies over two decades before retiring from the Fish and Wildlife Service in 2011. 'It's looking for love,' he said in October. 'It leaves the core population and doesn't know the love of its life is going to be right over the next hill, so it just keeps traveling.' Analysis of the animal's scat while it was in Arizona in October showed it had traveled hundreds of miles from the Northern Rockies in Wyoming . The gray wolf is protected under the U.S. Endangered Species . Act in most states. About 25 per cent of the roughly 1,700 wolves from the Northern Rockies are being tracked, wildlife officials said. They are distinguished from the Mexican gray wolves found in the Southwest by their more full bodies and less pointed ears. Utah regulations require hunters to properly identify their . target before shooting but cases of mistaken identity sometimes . happen, Martinez said. 'It's something we train people for in hunter education . classes but it's not a unique thing,' he said. The hunter who shot the wolf near the city of Beaver in . southwest Utah immediately contacted the state to report the . incident as required by law, Martinez said. He said several . coyotes in Utah have been equipped with radio collars tied to a . research project. Wildlife advocates said the death was shameful, whether or . not the wolf was Echo. 'It's very sad either way,' said Michael Robinson, . conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity.
A hunter claimed he accidentally shot and killed a wolf equipped with a radio collar near the Arizona border after mistaking it for a coyote .
Wolves in Utah are protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act .
Information from radio collar shows the dead wolf was a three-year-old female that was captured and collared in January in northwest Wyoming .
A gray wolf killed by a Utah hunter may . have been Echo - a female who attracted national attention . after wandering through several states to become the first of . the protected animals seen at Arizona's Grand Canyon in 70 . years, officials said on Tuesday. The hunter, who was not named by authorities, told Utah . wildlife officers on Sunday that he accidentally shot and killed . a wolf equipped with a radio collar near the Arizona border . after mistaking it for a coyote. Wolves in Utah are protected under the U.S. Endangered . Species Act, which bans killing of imperiled animals without a . special permit, but coyotes in the state are allowed to be shot . on sight. The Arizona Game and Fish Department released this photo in October of the gray wolf that was spotted at the Grand Canyon - the first sighting of the species in more than 70 years there. It is believed that a gray wolf killed on Sunday in Utah may be the same creature, named Echo . Wandering lone wolf: The three-year-old female's epic journey from the Rockies to the Grand Canyon sadly came to an end on Sunday when she was shot dead by a hunter in Utah . The incident, which is coming under sharp criticism by . conservationists, is being investigated by federal and state . conservation officers as a possible violation of U.S. and Utah . wildlife laws, authorities said. Information gleaned from the radio collar shows the wolf . killed in Utah was a three-year-old female that was captured and . collared in January in northwest Wyoming, said Utah Division of . Wildlife Resources spokesman Mark Martinez. The wolf spotted near the northern rim of the Grand Canyon . in October was also a young female, which had apparently roamed . hundreds of miles south from the Northern Rockies, . according to an analysis of droppings near where she was seen. It may be weeks before additional testing reveals whether . the wolf killed in Utah is the same one, which was nicknamed . Echo in a contest. Echo was the first gray wolf seen in the Grand Canyon and the adjacent national forest since . the 1940s, when the last wolf there was killed as part of an . extensive eradication campaign, said Chris Cline with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It also marked the species'  farthest journey south. Wolves often roam vast distances in search of food and mates. But the farther they go, the less likely they are to find a mate, said Ed Bangs, who led recovery efforts for wolves in the Northern Rockies over two decades before retiring from the Fish and Wildlife Service in 2011. 'It's looking for love,' he said in October. 'It leaves the core population and doesn't know the love of its life is going to be right over the next hill, so it just keeps traveling.' Analysis of the animal's scat while it was in Arizona in October showed it had traveled hundreds of miles from the Northern Rockies in Wyoming . The gray wolf is protected under the U.S. Endangered Species . Act in most states. About 25 per cent of the roughly 1,700 wolves from the Northern Rockies are being tracked, wildlife officials said. They are distinguished from the Mexican gray wolves found in the Southwest by their more full bodies and less pointed ears. Utah regulations require hunters to properly identify their . target before shooting but cases of mistaken identity sometimes . happen, Martinez said. 'It's something we train people for in hunter education . classes but it's not a unique thing,' he said. The hunter who shot the wolf near the city of Beaver in . southwest Utah immediately contacted the state to report the . incident as required by law, Martinez said. He said several . coyotes in Utah have been equipped with radio collars tied to a . research project. Wildlife advocates said the death was shameful, whether or . not the wolf was Echo. 'It's very sad either way,' said Michael Robinson, . conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity.
shot and killed . a wolf equipped with a radio collar near the Arizona border . after mistaking it for a coyote. Wolves in Utah are protected under the U.S. Endangered . Species Act, which gleaned from the radio collar shows the wolf . killed in Utah was a three-year-old female that was captured and . collared in January in