A creature that's been appearing in images taken by the Department of Fish and Wildlife was confirmed to be a female gray wolf still wearing her old tracking collar. This is the first time a gray wolf has been spotted in the Grand Canyon after more than 70 years.

Conservationists have been desperate to track down this wayward rare gray wolf to give it a new functional collar before winter approaches. Researchers are still optimistic as the sighting is strong evidence a pack of wolves may be lurking in the dense conifer forest and could herald a population increase of the endangered species.

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Researchers from the University of Idaho have confirmed the gray wolf was indeed a female based on DNA tests of the animal's droppings. Its lineage can be traced back to the species of a certain population of wolves living in the Northern Rockies.

This can only mean this particular female gray wolf traveled 450 miles to Arizona, and conservationists aren't really sure why she's wandering in the canyon.

Scientists estimate around 1,700 wild wolves live in the Rockies, which is also home to 300 successful breeding packs protected by conservation efforts. The she-wolf known as OR-7 was released back into the wild by scientists and migrated to the Cascade range in Oregon.

This wolf successfully mated and significant increased population numbers thanks to efforts by activists of the group, Defenders for Wildlife.

During the early 1990s, these wolves migrated in packs from Mexico to Canada to escape federal efforts to kill them. The gray wolf has now been removed from the endangered species list in the U.S. states of Idaho, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Wisconsin and also parts of Illinois, Indiana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Utah and Washington.

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