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April, 2006 ✦ ✦ ✦ Even though the initial DNA results seemed to conclude the wolverine was of Alaskan origin—and therefore most probably an escaped pet or zoo exhibit—Jeff lost none of his enthusiasm for studying her. In fact, he reached out to the public through the press and his website for any clues readers might be able to provide to solve that most basic mystery: how had a wolverine ended up in Michigan’s Thumb? “Let’s ‹nd out where this gal came from,” he wrote in a tongue-incheek plea in the May 2006 issue of Woods-N-Water News. Anyone driving through Michigan who has seen a large hole in a barn with visible claw marks, give me a call. Maybe she was a pet. Or if you ‹nd a large box secured to a downed parachute that says, “Gulo, do not pet” let me know. Maybe you’ve visited a zoo recently and found a hole chewed through the metal cage, with a sign attached saying “Wolverine—A solitary animal that is pound-per-pound the strongest, rarest, and most elusive mammal roaming the earth.” Regardless of the origin of the Thumb wolverine, we’ve been blessed to have such an interesting and fascinating animal inhabiting the Thumb area over the last two years, and hopefully, if we all do our part, she will continue to stay alive and well. He used the same article to put out a plea for ‹nancial help. In an effort to capitalize on their work, he and Jason Rosser had invested their personal funds in producing DVDs from their videotaped footage and were now $4,700 in the red. Steve Noble had also put together a PowerPoint presentation they were using for public appearances at high schools and sportsmen’s clubs across mid-Michigan. The wolverine was no longer just some interesting wild animal they were studying; it had become a marketable commodity. 145 That might have seemed self-serving and mercenary if it weren’t for one obvious fact: the only thing Jeff was spending the money on was more equipment and supplies for what he’d come to call simply his “research ”—and what was coming in wasn’t even coming close to matching the steady ›ow going out. Meanwhile, the DNA support for the escapee hypothesis had captured everyone’s imagination. In conversation with Audrey Magoun, DNR wildlife biologist Arnie Karr had raised the possibility that the wolverine had escaped or been intentionally released by someone who had acquired her from the rumored underground network of people dealing in exotic species without permits. Jeff was extremely skeptical of that theory. He and Jason had made some attempts to locate such a network on the pretense of buying a wolverine, but they’d had no luck at all. If such people existed in Michigan , he had no idea how to ‹nd them. While a wolverine escaping from black market thugs might sound like the plotline for a movie thriller, the notion isn’t as far-fetched as it might seem. In fact, a highly publicized case made headlines in midMichigan barely a year later. In November of 2007, the Flint Journal reported that three Genesee County people had been arrested and would be tried for stealing exotic animals from zoos, animal sanctuaries, and pet shops in Wayne and Saginaw counties, as well as other sites all over the country.1 Over a period of time, the Genesee County trio had allegedly stolen nearly 70 exotic birds, ‹sh, and mammals, including a kinkajou, several toucans, a fennec fox, piranha, a rare two-toed sloth, and a wallaby. The amassed animals were con‹ned in cages and enclosures inside a small Flint Township home for use in magic shows and school education programs . Bizarrely, the thieves even had a website advertising themselves as “Those Animal Guys”—which in fact turned out to be the key that eventually led to their arrest. The trio had apparently even set up a breeding ground for stolen toucans inside a hollow tree stump. A single toucan egg could have netted them 10,000 dollars on the exotic animal black market according to one expert quoted by the Flint Journal. In November of 2008, Julie Lock of Flint Township was sentenced to three months in jail and ‹ve years’ probation for her involvement in break-ins and theft from two Wayne County pet shops. She was also 146 ✦ The Lone Wolverine [3.138.113.188] Project...

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