Photo:Getty; The California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Getty; The California Department of Fish and Wildlife
California was graced with a rare visitor!
A wolverine was spotted in the Eastern Sierra Nevada mountains in May. According to anews release from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the last wild wolverine spotted in the state was discovered over a decade ago.
Before these two sightings, the most recent documentation of a wolverine in the state of California dates back to the 1920s, per the department.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife
“Because only two wolverines have been confirmed in California during the last 100 years, these latest detections are exciting,” Daniel Gammons, a senior environmental scientist at the department, stated in the release.
Although not confirmed, the different May sightings are likely the same wolverine, the release states, because the species tends to travel great distances.
The department plans to collect genetic material from the wolverine’s feeding sites to confirm that the recent sightings are all of the same animal in collaboration with both the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Getty
While they rarely pop up in California, wolverines are most common in Canada and Alaska, “with smaller populations in the Rocky and Cascade mountains.” The animal is fully protected as a threatened species under the California Endangered Species Act, per the release.
The largest land-dwelling species in the weasel family, wolverines often look like small bears. California wolverine sightings can be reported to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife through itsWildlife Incident Reporting System.
source: people.com
