We sometimes hear about animals that travel great distances during their lifetime.

For example, the bar-tailed godwit flies 7000 miles between New Zealand and Alaska annually. Monarch butterflies make the trip to an area in Mexico from various locations.

Although it's not out of the ordinary to hear about animals traveling these great distances, it is unusual to hear about a great wolf that travels more than 4,000 miles.

Although they are known to travel long distances, one set a record by traveling 4,200 miles in the Great Lakes region.

Photo: Flickr/Rachel Kramer License: CC BY 2.0

According to a Facebook post by Voyageurs Wolf Project, the lone wolf was equipped with a GPS collar, making it possible to track his course as he wandered about. The 4,200 miles were spread over an 18-month period, which is an incredible distance to travel in that amount of time.

Gray wolves are found in the area, but they are also found in other areas of the world as well. For the most part, they do tend to wander, and males like to look for their own territory in this way.

However, when the Michigan Department of Natural Resources put a GPS collar on this gray wolf in the Upper Peninsula, they weren't expecting what they saw. The collar went on June 21, 2021, and they were able to track the 92-pound wolf on his 1.5-year adventure.

The first trip was south to Wisconsin, where he made a turn. He then went to the northern part of Wisconsin, entered Minnesota, and then made a figure 8. Prior to the time, he went back to Minnesota, he crossed into North Dakota briefly.

Eventually, he made his way to Winters National Park and into Canada. The northern route went as far as Wabakimi Provincial Park, and then he headed west into Manitoba's White Shell Provincial Park.

Unfortunately, a hunter legally shot and killed the gray wolf on December 6, 2022.

It's sad to see such a long trip come to an end, but at least they were able to track the wolf on this journey and watch a record being set in the process.