Storied roving gray wolf dies
The lone gray wolf known as OR-93, who had become a canine celebrity of sorts for wandering through at least 16 California counties in search of a mate, has been found dead.
The 2-year-old male wolf ’s body was found on Nov. 10 in Kern County, according to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, which announced the wolf ’s death Wednesday. After performing a necropsy, the department deemed his death to be the result of a vehicle strike based on signs of trauma to his abdomen and one leg consistent with that type of injury.
A truck driver saw the wolf ’s body along a dirt trail near Interstate 5 close to the town of Lebec and called wildlife officials, who brought him to the Wildlife Health Laboratory
in Rancho Cordova (Sacramento County). Because gray wolves are protected under the California Endangered Species Act, they had to investigate whether he was harmed intentionally.
“It looks like a vehicular strike from I-5,” said Jordan Traverso, a spokeswoman with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. “There was no evidence of foul play.”
Born in Oregon in 2019 and then fitted with a transponder inside a distinctive purple collar, OR-93 traveled south into California in early 2020, headed through the Sierra Nevada and eventually made it to San Luis Obispo County, traversing 16 counties and several highways along the way. His transponder stopped working in April, but he was spotted in Ventura County in September.
“Anybody who’s been following his story knows that he was a remarkable wolf,” said Amaroq Weiss, senior wolf advocate at the Oakland conservation organization Center for Biological Diversity, who cried as she recalled OR-93 and said she had received multiple texts and calls Wednesday after the news broke about his death. “Every time we have a wolf that comes into California, it seems there are always some lessons they teach the public.”
Gray wolves have recently returned to the state after being hunted to extinction 100 years ago. OR-93’s presence and that of several other wolf packs in northern California were seen by conservationists as signs of the long-term success of federal protections for wolves established under the Endangered Species Act in 1973.
As a young male, OR-93 was following his instinct in search of a mate and had made it farther south than any wolf in almost a century.
On Nov. 5, Weiss and a few friends went hiking in search of wolf tracks and scat in the areas where OR-93 had last been seen, including in Kern County, where a rancher had spotted him on a security camera in August.
The wolf had safely crossed I-5 and Highway 99, according to his transponder. To do so, he must have found a culvert or perhaps made it across the highways at night, said Weiss.
“This time he didn’t make it,” she said. “You’re left wondering had he finally given up finding a mate where he was and had decided to head back north.”
If he had, he may have come across a female wolf of the right age in one of the three existing packs in Northern California, Weiss said.
Though their numbers are growing in the state, gray wolves pose little safety risk to humans, according to the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The state has committed $61 million to construct crossings to protect wild animals from an estimated 7,000 vehicle accidents annually, according to UC Davis.
“This is a wake-up call for just how important those wildlife crossings are,” said Weiss. “This is something that should have powerful momentum behind it.”