Landscape, Nature And Travel Photography

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A research project aimed at martens has turned up a bigger prize: a picture of a wolverine, an elusive animal scientists feared may have been driven out of the Sierra Nevada long ago by human activity.The discovery could affect land-use decisions if the wolverine is declared an endangered species, a step the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering, although the animals typically live at high elevations where there is limited development.

A graduate student at Oregon State University, Katie Moriarty, got a picture of a wolverine recently on a motion-and-heat-detecting digital camera set up at a remote field station. The station is between Truckee and Sierraville, in the northern part of the mountain range.

Moriarty was trying to get pictures of martens, which are slender brown weasels, for a project she was doing with the U.S. Forest Service’s Pacific Southwest Research Station.

The big question is whether or not this was a California wolverine or a sub-species that has moved down from Washington or Idaho. Efforts are underway to find and conduct DNA testing via hair or feces left behind by the animal.

OSU Researcher Documents Rare Wolverine in California – OSU

Camera Sports Rare Wolverine in Nevada – Reuters
(title typo should be California’s Sierra Nevada)

Wolverine wonder
First wolverine in 30 years spotted in California – grist.org

Full resolution image via OSU

Technorati Tags: California, Sierra Nevada, wolverine, wildlife, environment, environmental, news, rare, endangered, species, Katie Moriarty