Post by FWS on Mar 24, 2008 16:33:00 GMT -6
Research camera snaps more photos of wolverine in Sierra Nevada
The Associated Press
03/22/2008
SACRAMENTO—Researchers this week snapped two photographs of a wolverine in the Sierra Nevada, which scientists said bolstered evidence that the elusive animal is roaming the 400-mile long mountain range.
The two new photos surfaced several weeks after an Oregon State University graduate student shot the first picture of a wolverine in California since the 1920s.
Researchers also found wolverine tracks and collected about 50 hair and feces samples this month in an attempt to identify the animal's heritage and determine if there is more than one in the area.
"It's helping scientists learn if the animal came from another area, escaped from captivity or is from a historical population," said Department of Fish and Game spokesman Steve Martarano.
Researchers, biologists and volunteers have spent the past few weeks combing the Tahoe National Forest searching for wolverines since graduate student Kathy Moriarty first discovered the animal on Feb. 28.
At the time, she was trying to get pictures of martens, which are slender brown weasels, for a project she was doing with the U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Southwest Research Station. Her photo of the wolverine was produced from a motion-and-heat-detecting digital camera set up between Truckee and Sierraville.
It remains unclear whether this week's photos are images of the same wolverine, Martarano said.
The Fish and Wildlife Service said earlier this month that wolverines do not warrant endangered species protections in the contiguous United States, however the new discovery in California has prompted them to conduct a 12-month review in the Sierra Nevada, state wildlife officials say. The wolverine is listed as a threatened species under California state law.
"It is too early to say how this will affect the national forest," said Tom Quinn, Tahoe National Forest Supervisor, in a news release. "We are working with the researchers and wolverine experts to learn as much as we can."
If the wolverine were declared an endangered species in California, it could affect land-use decisions in the Sierra Nevada, although most wolverines live at high altitudes away from developments.
The Associated Press
03/22/2008
SACRAMENTO—Researchers this week snapped two photographs of a wolverine in the Sierra Nevada, which scientists said bolstered evidence that the elusive animal is roaming the 400-mile long mountain range.
The two new photos surfaced several weeks after an Oregon State University graduate student shot the first picture of a wolverine in California since the 1920s.
Researchers also found wolverine tracks and collected about 50 hair and feces samples this month in an attempt to identify the animal's heritage and determine if there is more than one in the area.
"It's helping scientists learn if the animal came from another area, escaped from captivity or is from a historical population," said Department of Fish and Game spokesman Steve Martarano.
Researchers, biologists and volunteers have spent the past few weeks combing the Tahoe National Forest searching for wolverines since graduate student Kathy Moriarty first discovered the animal on Feb. 28.
At the time, she was trying to get pictures of martens, which are slender brown weasels, for a project she was doing with the U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Southwest Research Station. Her photo of the wolverine was produced from a motion-and-heat-detecting digital camera set up between Truckee and Sierraville.
It remains unclear whether this week's photos are images of the same wolverine, Martarano said.
The Fish and Wildlife Service said earlier this month that wolverines do not warrant endangered species protections in the contiguous United States, however the new discovery in California has prompted them to conduct a 12-month review in the Sierra Nevada, state wildlife officials say. The wolverine is listed as a threatened species under California state law.
"It is too early to say how this will affect the national forest," said Tom Quinn, Tahoe National Forest Supervisor, in a news release. "We are working with the researchers and wolverine experts to learn as much as we can."
If the wolverine were declared an endangered species in California, it could affect land-use decisions in the Sierra Nevada, although most wolverines live at high altitudes away from developments.
