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1st wild fishers born in North Cascades in decades

The first wild members of the wolverine family known as fishers have been born in the North Cascades for the first time in decades

By Associated Press

Published: May 18, 2021, 7:40am

FILE - In this Dec. 2, 2016 file photo, a Pacific fisher takes off running after being released into a forest at Mount Rainier National Park, Wash. The Pacific fisher, a weasel-like carnivore native to Oregon's southern old growth forests, has been denied endangered species protection in the state, the latest twist in a legal back-and-forth that has continued for 20 years. In the decision issued last week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declined to grant the fisher threatened status in southern Oregon and northern California, citing voluntary conservation measures as effective in protecting the woodland creatures. Today, biologists estimate anywhere from a few hundred to a couple thousand fishers live in Oregon, most near the California border. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)

SEATTLE — The first wild members of the wolverine family known as fishers have been born in the North Cascades for the first time in decades.

A coalition of wildlife agencies announced the discovery Monday, saying a female fisher was seen on a trail camera in April, KING-TV reported.

The fisher was photographed moving four kits at her den in western Chelan County.

Fishers are native to Washington forests but were eliminated by the mid-1900s through trapping and habitat loss.

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Biologist Dr. Jeff Lewis said in a statement that seeing fisher F105 and her kits is a wonderful first indication that the North Cascades Ecosystem can support a reproductive population of fishers, and it’s a great sign for fisher recovery in Washington.

“We have high hopes that we will find additional females in the North Cascades having kits this spring,” he said.

To restore the species in Washington, 89 fishers were released into the North Cascades and Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest between 2018 and 2020. Eighty-one fishers were released in the southern Cascades from 2015 to 2020.

More than 250 fishers have been reintroduced to Washington since releases first started near Olympic National Park in 2008, according to the North Cascades National Park Service Complex.

The female caught on camera in Chelan County was released west of Darrington in 2018.

Fishers were listed as a state endangered species in 1998.

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