POLSON — After initially acknowledging the credibility of a potential wolf sighting within the Polson city limits, tribal officials are now backing away from the claim, saying the animals at the heart of last week’s wolf hysteria are probably escaped dogs.

“We are pretty much convinced that what people are seeing are a couple of loose dogs,” said Dale Becker, wildlife program manager for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

Becker said that the descriptions of the suspected wolves match those of a malamute and a husky that have been reported missing by a dog owner in the Polson area.

“Everything we’re seeing is leading us to believe that the wolf alarm is actually a false alarm,” Becker reiterated, adding that, “it would be extremely unusual for wild wolves to be in this area.”

Becker said that officials are working with animal control to capture the stray animals.

“We were quite skeptical of it to begin with… but we did want to get a warning out just to have people be aware that there may or may not be wolves,” Becker said of the tribes’ precautionary approach to the situation.

The wolf-related drama began last Tuesday, when the tribes issued a written statement alerting the public of a possible Dec. 28 sighting by Polson resident Joyce Norman.

Norman had spotted what appeared to be two wolves — one black and one gray — chasing a herd of deer through her residential neighborhood on Hillcrest Drive. Norman said that the gray animal appeared to be wearing a yellow radio collar.

George Barth, a wildlife biologist with the tribes, responded to Norman’s home to investigate the sighting.

“Most likely they are wolf tracks,” Barth said last week, noting that the size and gait of the paw prints left behind in the snow were consistent with those of wolves.