A young male gray wolf has been tracked to Mono County, east of Yosemite National Park, the furthest south a wolf has been spotted in the state “in modern times,” the Center for Biological Diversity said.
OR-93 started life in Oregon’s White River pack, which lies south of Mount Hood. As a youngster, he was fitted with a tracking collar, which has helped fish and wildlife officials monitor his journey. Early this year, he departed Oregon, likely in search of a new territory.
“Given the time of year, we assume OR-93 has traveled such a long way in search of a mate,” Center for Biological Diversity wolf advocate Amaroq Weiss said in a statement. “I hope he can find one.”
In early February, OR-93 was tracked to Modoc County before he quickly traversed hundreds of miles south, trotting between Sierra state highways 4 and 208. Recently, he moved to Mono County, just east of Yosemite National Park. Previously, the furthest south a gray wolf was spotted was the Lake Tahoe Basin; that wolf, OR-54, then went back north after his Tahoe vacation.
The gray wolf was hunted into extinction in California by the 1920s, primarily by farmers concerned about the threat to livestock. OR-93 is only the 16th documented gray wolf found in California since then. The state has two wolf packs — although one disappeared in 2015.
The Lassen pack has reproduced each year since 2017, but the Shasta pack only had pups in 2015. That year, a breeding pair had five pups and a few months later, fell off the map. One of the then-grown pups was found in Nevada in 2016.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife will continue to monitor OR-93 as he travels through the state.
“We’re thrilled to learn this wolf is exploring deep into the Sierra Nevada, since scientists have said all along this is great wolf habitat,” Weiss said. “He’s another beacon of hope, showing that wolves can return here and flourish as long as they remain legally protected.”
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