Gray wolf returns to Tuolumne County
A yearling male gray wolf, named OR-93 for his origins with an Oregon pack and tracked in late February in Calaveras and Tuolumne counties, returned to Tuolumne County on Wednesday.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife confirmed the wolf “is currently back in Tuolumne County,” Kelle Schroeder, the Tuolumne County agriculture commissioner, announced in a statement released Wednesday afternoon that also reminded people that gray wolves are a protected species in the Golden State.
“We would like to remind everyone that gray wolves are covered under the Endangered Species Act in California,” Schroeder said Wednesday. “It is unlawful to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, or capture gray wolves.”
Back in February, wildlife authorities said OR-93’S visit to Tuolumne County was the first recorded observance of a collared gray wolf so far south in the Sierra Nevada.
John Buckley with the Central Sierra Environmental Resource
Center in Twain Harte said the last he'd heard of OR-93 was when the wolf was tracked in Mono County.
Buckley said he hadn't seen or heard anything about the wolf in recent weeks, but he was surprised to hear it was back in Tuolumne County Wednesday afternoon.
Buckley said it's now worth asking, “Where does a gray wolf go when he goes on vacation or an adventure? And the answer is Tuolumne County.”
Since news spread that OR-93 first got tracked in the Sonora Pass area, Buckley said people have been contacting CSERC to ask how they can see a wild gray wolf.
“People already come here to see the bald eagle and the Sierra Nevada red fox,” Buckley said in a phone interview. “This adds from a conservation perspective to the prospect visitors could see a wild gray wolf running in the distance while driving or hiking or backpacking in the Sonora Pass area.
“The wolf, based on activity in Northern California, is likely to spend time in areas that are pretty remote. The best chance to see one is out in wild areas.”
Buckley said he was in Yellowstone National Park a couple years ago and saw 65 to 80 cars lined up on a park road as people with binoculars and view scopes tried to catch a distant glimpse of the head of a wolf that had just birthed wolf pups.
People who come to Tuolumne County to enjoy the outdoors are often hoping to see something exciting and rare, especially something like a gray wolf, when there's only one known wolf south of Lake Tahoe, Buckley said.
Schroeder said gray wolf sightings can be reported to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife by calling (530) 2252300, or going online to www.wildlife. ca.gov/conservation/mammals/graywolf/sighting-report.
“Gray wolves pose very little safety risk to humans,” Schroeder said “If one should encounter a gray wolf, do not run. Maintain eye contact and make noise while retreating slowly.”