The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has confirmed an April 6 video of a wolverine crossing Hwy. 20 (https://bit.ly/40fv9Bw) east of Santiam Pass.
ODFW Deschutes District staff confirmed tracks near the video location the day it was spotted.
Several wolverine-sighting reports have been submitted over the last month to ODFW and Cascadia Wild, a local nonprofit conducting community science wildlife surveys for wolverines on Mt. Hood. Two people fishing along the Columbia River north of Portland submitted the first report March 20 after taking photos of a wolverine on the bank of McGuire Island. Additional sightings were confirmed in Damascus, Oregon City and Colton over the next several days.
Based on timing, verified locations and travel, these sightings are possibly of the same animal, whose long-distance dispersals or “exploratory” movements are not irregular during this time of year. Wolverines can travel well over 30 miles in a single day. According to ODFW, this animal, based on its location, is likely making its way to a new area where it can survive and hopefully reproduce. Wolverines need high‐elevation habitat (alpine areas with dense snowpack), but young wolverines often travel long distances to establish new territory.
Wolverines are rare in Oregon. The initial sighting last month was the first confirmed report of a wolverine outside of the Wallowa Mountains in more than 30 years. The last documented wolverine in the Central Cascades was killed in 1969 by a trapper near Broken Top Mountain. Wolverines are listed as a state-threatened species in Oregon.
Although ODFW occasionally receives wolverine reports, sightings are difficult to confirm without documentation or tracks. Anyone who documents a wolverine is asked to share it via iNaturalist at bit.ly/43GcP7U.