A wolverine in Yellowstone National Park. Photo from National Park Service.
A researcher working with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife says she’s found the first ever confirmed wolverine tracks in Wallowa County.
Dr. Audrey Magoun found the tracks almost a week ago while hiking through the snow in the Eagle Cap Wilderness. She was able to follow them for about a mile. Judging by their size, she thinks they were left by a male.
This is not just the first set of tracks for Wallowa County, but one of the few signs of wolverines in Oregon in more than 75 years.
The wolverine tracks in the snow. Dr. Magoun’s glove is at left for size comparison. Photo from ODFW.
Wolverines are holdovers from the ice age, which is why they live at high elevations with cold and snowy climates. Magoun, along with her fellow researcher and husband Pat Valkenburg, began looking for wolverines in the Wallowas on a hunch that this area was good habitat for them.
“There is a breeding population in the Payette Forest in Idaho and a breeding population in the North Cascades in Washington,” she says. “In fact, we couldn’t believe wolverine wouldn’t be here. They travel large distances.”
What they don’t know is whether this is a lone wolverine just passing through the area – or if he’s here to stay – or if there are others who’ve formed a permanent population.
Wolverines were once widespread across North America, but probably not in great numbers. Trapping and poisoning killed off most of them and it’s believed only a few hundred remain in the lower 48 states. Oregon’s population was wiped out in the 1930s.
Despite their small numbers, they are not protected by the Endangered Species Act.
Researchers Dr. Audrey Magoun and Pat Valkenburg set up a typical wolverine camera site. Photo from ODFW.
The couple has set up more than a dozen baited remote cameras throughout the Wallowas for a visual capture of one of these elusive animals. So far, no luck. But they’ve photographed plenty of American marten and a few native red foxes.
They plan to return to Wallowa County next winter and continue their search.
Funding and logistical support for the survey comes from an Oregon Conservation Strategy Implementation Grant (federal State Wildlife Grant), The Wolverine Foundation, Inc., the Wildlife Conservation Society and private individuals including Magoun and Valkenburg, Alaska residents, who use their own plane for aerial surveys.
