PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is asking people to submit their wolverine sightings to the website iNaturalist.org after three different sightings were confirmed on Oregon’s north coast in the past week and a half.
The recent sightings occurred in Nehalem, Netarts and Newport, the ODFW said. The most recent sighting happened in Newport on March 21.
“ODFW investigated and verified these sightings,” the state wildlife agency said. “Dispersing animals regularly travel through diverse landscapes while looking for a new home, but it doesn’t mean we’re going to have a wolverine population set up shop anytime soon.”
The iNaturalist app and website are used to help biologists track individual sightings of wildlife like wolverines, which are listed as threatened in Oregon. Wolverines are protected animals in Oregon, and it is illegal to hunt or trap them.
ODFW officials said there is not enough information to know if the wolverine seen on the coast is the same animal that was spotted in the Willamette Valley in February. A wolverine was also spotted near Portland in March of 2023. The 2023 sighting was Oregon’s first confirmed report of a wolverine outside of the Wallowa Mountains in more than 30 years.
Wolverines are the largest member of the weasel family and are widely found in Canada and Alaska. Smaller populations are also found in Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Oregon. Oregon is considered the southern edge of the species’ range in North America. Wolverines are typically found in high elevations areas with abundant snowpack.
