Wolf tracked near Yosemite park for first time in 100 years
BRIDGEPORT — A young male wolf has been traveling near Yosemite National Park, the farthest south a wolf has been tracked in California in more than a century, officials said.
Researchers have been monitoring the wolf dubbed OR-93 via his tracking collar and said the animal departed Oregon earlier this year, likely in search of a new territory, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Sunday.
After trekking through Modoc County and crossing state highways 4 and 208, OR-93 recently moved into Mono County, just east of Yosemite, the newspaper said.
“Given the time of year, we assume OR-93 has traveled such a long way in search of a mate,” Center for Biological Diversity wolf advocate Amaroq Weiss said in a statement. “I hope he can find one.”
Previously, the farthest south a gray wolf was spotted in recent decades was the Lake Tahoe Basin, according to the Chronicle. That wolf, OR-54, eventually headed back north.
Earlier this month, another male wolf, OR-85, was tracked to California’s Siskiyou County, just south of the Oregon state line.
Gray wolves were eradicated in California early in the last century because of their perceived threat to livestock. Their reappearance in the state has riled ranchers, who say wolves have preyed on their livestock on public or private land.
Wolves are protected under California’s Endangered Species Act. Trump administration officials in November stripped Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in most of the U.S., ending longstanding federal safeguards and putting states and tribes in charge of overseeing the predators.
“We’re thrilled to learn this wolf is exploring deep into the Sierra Nevada, since scientists have said all along this is great wolf habitat,” Weiss said of OR-93. “He’s another beacon of hope, showing that wolves can return here and flourish as long as they remain legally protected.”
LOS ANGELES — A California driver who said he had used a mannequin as his passenger for at least a year and a half in order to access carpool lanes has been cited and faces a fine of at least $400.
The mannequin — adorned with gray hair, wrinkles, glasses, a Cleveland Indians baseball hat and a face mask — sat in the passenger seat of the driver’s Toyota Tacoma when he was pulled over on Feb. 19.
Officer S. Sullinger was patrolling the eastbound 210 freeway in Glendora in search of carpool violators.
The officer noticed the front passenger in the Toyota was suspicious and that the vehicle had tinted windows on its front passenger side, which is illegal.
Sullinger realized the passenger was fake when the driver rolled down his window.
“The driver didn’t say much,” California Highway Patrol Officer Rodrigo Jimenez said to the Los Angeles Daily News on Friday. “Other than that he’s been driving with the mannequin and he’d been getting away with it for a year and a half.”
The driver was cited for the carpool infraction but the mannequin was not confiscated. There is no additional punishment for trying to dupe officers by placing a mannequin in the passenger seat, the Los Angeles Daily News reported.
Drivers will attempt to use mannequins, a bundle of blankets or even a small doll to make it look like another person is in the vehicle, Jimenez said.