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The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has confirmed that multiple sightings of what is believed to be the same wolverine occurred in May in the Eastern Sierra Nevada mountains. Two sightings were in the Inyo National Forest in Inyo and Mono counties. A third sighting occurred in Yosemite National Park in Tuolumne County.
Images and video of the wolverine, taken in May by separate individuals in different locations, were sent to CDFW for analysis, which consulted with wolverine experts from the U.S. Forest Service. Scientists identified the animal as a wolverine by its size, body proportion, coloration and movement patterns. CDFW field teams then confirmed the sighting locations through coordinates imbedded in the photos and video.
“Wolverines can travel great distances, making it likely that the recent sightings are all of the same animal,” said CDFW Senior Environmental Scientist Daniel Gammons. “Because only two wolverines have been confirmed in California during the last 100 years, these latest detections are exciting.”
Scientists documented a single wolverine in California from 2008 to 2018. That wolverine was first discovered in February 2008 in the Truckee region of the Tahoe National Forest. The recent detections were likely of a different wolverine given that the species’ lifespan is typically 12 to 13 years.
Prior to that, the last confirmed wolverine sightings in California were in the 1920s.
Wolverines are the largest terrestrial member of the weasel family and resemble a small bear. They are widely distributed in Canada and Alaska with smaller populations in the Rocky and Cascade mountains. In California wolverines are classified as fully protected and listed as a threatened species under the California Endangered Species Act.
CDFW plans to collaborate with the U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service to collect genetic samples from the wolverine through hair, scat or saliva found at feeding sites. The public is encouraged to report sightings or observations to CDFW through its Wildlife Incident Reporting system(opens in new tab).
Yosemite National Park Photo
Media Contact(s):
Tim Daly, CDFW Communications, (916) 201-2958
Daniel Gammons, CDFW Inland Desert Region, (760) 872-3159
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Professional Sierra Landscape Photographer
I don't give out specific route information, my belief is that it takes away from the whole adventure spirit of a trip, if you need every inch planned out, you'll have to get that from someone else.
Have a safer backcountry experience by using the HST ReConn Form 2.0, named after Larry Conn, a HST member:http://reconn.org
Catching up on posts... . I'm not sure what DFW considers a "confirmed" sighing of anything, including wolverine. But both Yosemite and Sequoia Kings have sightings going back to the 1920s. A number of them by professional biologists (Joseph Dixon, well-known Yosemite biologist saw 5 over the years north of Hetch Hetchy). Up to ~2000 (the last time I had the full wildlife sighting databases for both parks) I think there had be 50 or so sightings.
Oh, wait. Going through my emails, one of the Yosemite wildlife biologists was on a ski trip in 1990 with a UCLA zoologist. He saw one in Tuolumne and the Yosemite biologist confirmed the tracks were wolverine.
True, the sightings are rare but often clustered over a few years indicating they're more likely than not. The late Sequoia Kings biologist Dave Graber trusted a number of the reports including one by one of his employees in the 90s in Granite Basin, north of Cedar Grove.
I don't think they'd actually been living in the central Sierra since probably the 30s but, like this one, they roam over huge areas and very likely came through and seem to do so consistently in spite of what DFW says.
Thanks, George, for the info. It's nice to see you back here again; it's been a while. I thought you may have moved to Italy.
Professional Sierra Landscape Photographer
I don't give out specific route information, my belief is that it takes away from the whole adventure spirit of a trip, if you need every inch planned out, you'll have to get that from someone else.
Have a safer backcountry experience by using the HST ReConn Form 2.0, named after Larry Conn, a HST member:http://reconn.org
Same place, Bay Area. I will try to do drive through visit, like I did a few years back, while driving up 108 during the summer, George.
Professional Sierra Landscape Photographer
I don't give out specific route information, my belief is that it takes away from the whole adventure spirit of a trip, if you need every inch planned out, you'll have to get that from someone else.
Have a safer backcountry experience by using the HST ReConn Form 2.0, named after Larry Conn, a HST member:http://reconn.org
Yeah, it would be great to see you if you come through. We just hang out on the deck drinking wine and shooting the empties off the railing. And eating good pasta... .
This thread intersects naturally with the recent topic "Old Muir Tail Mapped." In the latter, mention is made of Orland Bartholomew's bold winter 1928-1929 trip on the JMT, as chronicled by Gene Rose in "High Odyssey" (published in 1974). In Chapter 8 "Up and Down the Mountain Slide" Bart is approaching Glen Pass when he is joined by the fresh tracks of a wolverine. This twosome of northbound travellers is soon joined by yet another set of fresh tacks. "From his Alaskan travels Bart immediately recognized them as wolf prints."
After a skirmish with an avalanche, Bart rejoins the other travelers down to the Rae Lakes, where the wolf tracks vanish. Later he catches up with the wolverine, as he spots the critter on the other side of Woods Creek during their descent.
Jim
PS: My first passage over Glen Pass was on August 11, 1957. The night before Dad (US forest patrol, Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, 1930s) and I camped at Dollar Lake. At sunset, I was out fishing and Dad called me back to camp. He had seen some unexpected fresh animal tracks which put him on high alert. I never paid much attention to his concern, but now I wonder what Dad specifically had in mind.
BTW: As George suggests, "Pathway in the Sky, the Story of the John Muir Trail" (published in 1965) is a must read. Its many photos from the 1950s and 1960s are a walk down Memory Lane for this who had the privilege to experience the High Sierras in that era.
Yes, Bart's sighting of a wolverine is yet another good observation. In fact, I added it to Sequoia Kings wildlife observation database (which has something like 80,000 observations collected since the late 1800s (includes Muir's watching a Grizzly on the Middle Fork of the Kings).
But, heh, you win some sort of prize both for Glen Pass in '57, allowing me to feel like a youngster, AND your dad being a ranger on the Kenai Peninsula! That is very, very cool.
Would have been nice to know what the tracks were. Shorty Lovelace was a fur trapper who had a string of cabins he'd build and used into the 30s in winter. I suspect he wiped out all the martin, fisher, & any wolverine. One of his cabins is at the junction of the JMT & South Fork Kings; another part way down Gardiner Basin west of 60 Lakes. Would have been great to see his trapping records but don't think they exist. Marin &, even, fisher have been reported but obviously wolverine remains very, very rare.
A side note. One wildlife biologist friend of mine speculated that, other than trapping, decline of wolverine may have paralleled decline of BIghorn Sheep. Wolverine feed on large carcasses and sheep would have been one source. As I say, though, pure speculation but interesting. One of the first remnant populations of sheep discovered was the Baxter herd found after they were thought extinct in the Sierra (1930s?). That's just east of Dollar Lake and still a good place to see sheep, as is 60 Lakes Basin. They're also known to come down to Dollar Lake occasionally.
