An extremely rare creature was barely seen in California over the last century — until it was spotted multiple times in May.
Several people reported seeing a wolverine in eastern Sierra Nevada and captured photos and video of the animal, officials with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said in a news release.
Wildlife officials confirmed it was a wolverine based on images and video different people took of the animal in the Inyo National Forest in Inyo and Mono counties, and in Yosemite National Park in Tuolumne County, the release said.
Experts such as the department’s senior environmental scientist Daniel Gammons believe the sightings were all of the same animal, officials said.
“Wolverines can travel great distances, making it likely that the recent sightings are all of the same animal,” Gammons said in the release. “Because only two wolverines have been confirmed in California during the last 100 years, these latest detections are exciting.”
A wolverine roamed in the Truckee region of the Tahoe National Forest from 2008 to 2018, officials said. They typically only live between 12 and 13 years, so it wouldn’t be the same wolverine that was just spotted in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
Before that, a wolverine hadn’t been spotted in California since the 1920s.
Wolverines are the largest members of the weasel family, and they look like small bears, officials said. There are large populations in Canada and Alaska and smaller populations in the Rocky and Cascade mountains.
Wolverines are fully protected in California and are listed as a threatened species under the state’s endangered species act, officials said.
Officials with the state’s fish and wildlife department plan to partner with both the U.S. Forest Service and the National Park Service to set up wolverine feeding sites, where they hope to collect genetic samples from wolverine hair, scat or saliva, officials said.
The California wildlife agency encourages people to report sightings or observations through its Wildlife Incident Reporting system.
It’s unclear if those who reported the sightings used the system, but the choice to submit the photo and video evidence to the department is what ultimately led to experts confirming the wolverine’s presence in California.
A skier at Mammoth Mountain in the Inyo National Forest spotted a wolverine a few weeks ago, SFGATE reported.
The man was riding a ski lift with a few buddies when they saw what appeared to be “a small bear, except for the white marking, long tail and the head,” the outlet reported.
CDFW scientists identified the animal in the photos and videos as a wolverine “by its size, body proportion, coloration and movement patterns,” officials said.
A nonprofit organization dedicated to wildlife preservation weighed in on the news, saying the native species may have made it back to California because the conditions were right.
