Photo: Wolverine in Yosemite is second seen in California since 1920s
A wolverine seen in the Eastern Sierra last month is only the second confirmed sighting of the animal in California since the 1920s, the state’s wildlife agency said.
The announcement Thursday included an image of a wolverine recorded in Yosemite National Park.
Two other sightings last month — in Inyo National Forest in Inyo and Mono counties — are believed to be of the same animal.
Images and video from separate individuals were analyzed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, which determined it was indeed a wolverine. The sighting locations were confirmed through coordinates imbedded in the photos and video, the agency said.
“Wolverines can travel great distances, making it likely that the recent sightings are all of the same animal,” CDFW Senior Environmental Scientist Daniel Gammons said in a press release. “Because only two wolverines have been confirmed in California during the last 100 years, these latest detections are exciting.”
The other sightings this century, from 2008 to 2018, were of what is believed to have been a single animal in the Tahoe National Forest near Truckee. It was thought to have migrated from the Sawtooth Range in Idaho.
Because wolverines in the wild live about 12 years, the Eastern Sierra wolverine is most likely not the same one seen near Truckee, the wildlife agency biologists said.
Before 2008, the last confirmed wolverine sightings in California were in the 1920s. The animal is listed as a threatened species in the state.