For only the second time in 100 years, a wolverine has been spotted in California, where the mammal was common until the 1920s.
State wildlife officials said the animal had been spotted three times in the past month on the eastern side of California’s Sierra Nevada.
They said it is a rare occurrence for an animal that’s only been seen one other time in California over the last 100 years.
While wolverines are native to California, they’ve been essentially extinct from the state since the 1920s.
This was most likely due to hunting and fur trapping after the gold rush, though records from the time don’t indicate what exactly caused the population to decline.
One wolverine was spotted in the state from 2008 to 2018, beginning in the Tahoe National Forest, officials said.
The wolverine spotted last month, is likely a different one because the animal’s life span is usually 12 to 13 years.
The latest wolverine spotted appears to be a young male seeking a mate.
It was spotted twice in the Inyo National Forest and once in Yosemite National Park.
“It’s just really exciting and surprising,” said California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife’s senior environmental scientist Daniel Gammons said.
Male wolverines walk through huge territories of around several hundred square kilometres — and this winter’s heavy snowfall in the West may have created “habitat bridges” for the wolverine, Mr Gammons said.
The animal may have travelled from the Rocky and Cascade mountain ranges, or even further from Canada or Alaska.
Wildlife officials are trying to get a specimen of the wolverine’s hair or scat for genetic testing.
The species is the largest terrestrial member of the weasel family and is listed as threatened under the California Endangered Species Act.
