A wolverine was spotted last week crossing U.S. 20 east of Santiam Pass, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. This marks the fifth sighting in the area in less than a month.
Video of the rare, badger-like animal shows it dashing across the highway, barely avoiding being hit by a semi-trailer truck.
The video was a good example of the different factors that hinder wolverines from moving into more populated areas, said Kalysta Adkins, the agency’s East Region conservation biologist.
“It could be the only wolverine in the cascades in 30 years,” Adkins said. “Imagine if it got hit by a truck on Highway 20. It would be a heartbreaking end to the story.”
The saga began last month when two fishers spotted a wolverine along the Columbia River on McGuire Island, southeast from the Chinook Landing Marine Park. It was the first confirmed sighting in the region outside the Wallowa Mountains in more than three decades.
After that initial glimpse March 20 near Portland, people reported seeing a wolverine in Damascus, Oregon City, then Colton in Clackamas County.
Wildlife officials can’t confirm it was the same wolverine each time, but based on the trajectory of the sightings, it’s entirely possible, they said. Young wolverines often “disperse” or leave their birthplace in search of new territory to find mates, according to Oregon’s wildlife department.
Wolverines typically live in Canada, Alaska and Washington because they need dense snowpack and wide-open ranges to survive. So a wolverine trekking south near Portland is “rare and exciting,” Adkins said.
The last documented wolverine near the Central Cascades was killed near Broken Top Mountain in 1969. Now the elusive animal is listed as a threatened species in Oregon.
Wolverines had a presence in the Cascades in the ‘60s, so this one could make Oregon its home, adkins said, but habitat destruction makes it less likely. They hope to keep hearing of sightings to track its progress.
Oregon’s Department of Fish and Wildlife advises people to keep their distance from wolverines and try to capture the moment with a photo to report the sighting to the department via the website iNaturalist.
