A wolverine has been recorded on an Idaho Fish and Game camera near McCall as part of a four-state study to determine where the elusive mammals live.
A remote camera recorded at least one wolverine earlier this winter feeding on a deer leg attached to a tree about 12 miles northeast of McCall. Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Washington state are taking part in the study to find out if the animals can be reintroduced to some regions to boost their numbers.
Wolverines, a member of the weasel family, once were found throughout the Rocky Mountains and in California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range. They were wiped out across most of the U.S. by the 1930s because of unregulated trapping and poisoning campaigns. They have since recovered in parts of the West, but not in other areas of their historical range.
In the Lower 48 states, an estimated 250 to 300 wolverines survive in remote areas of Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. The study that started this winter is using remote cameras and copper brushes to collect DNA – in Idaho, cameras have been set up in 61 sites. The work is being done in the winter when bears are hibernating so researchers can focus on the wolverines.
Under the plan, the states will come up with a map of wolverine habitat that will be useful for land trust organizations working with private landowners on conservation easements to prevent development. (AP)
