Rare Wolverine Sighting Confirmed in Tuolumne County

Photo taken by: Park Ranger Tim Knauss

Tuolumne County, CA – Take a look at the photo in the image box, as it is a rare sighting of a wolverine photographed in Yosemite National Park in May.

Wolverines are the largest terrestrial member of the weasel family and resemble small bears. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has confirmed what is believed to be the same wolverine at least three times last month in the Eastern Sierra Nevada mountains, one in Yosemite. The other two sightings were in the Inyo National Forest in Inyo and Mono counties.

“Wolverines can travel great distances, making it likely that the recent sightings are all of the same animal,” said CDFW Senior Environmental Scientist Daniel Gammons. “Because only two wolverines have been confirmed in California during the last 100 years, these latest detections are exciting.”

Only a single wolverine was documented in California from February 2008 to 2018 in the Truckee region of the Tahoe National Forest. The last confirmed sightings before that were in the 1920s. State wildlife officials believe this latest sighting is of a different wolverine, as their lifespan is typically 12 to 13 years.

Both photos and videos were taken in May by separate individuals in different locations and sent to CDFW for analysis. They consulted with Wolverine experts from the U.S. Forest Service who “identified the animal as a wolverine by its size, body proportion, coloration, and movement patterns.”

CDFW field teams also confirmed the sighting locations through coordinates embedded in the photos and video. They plan to collaborate with the U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service to collect genetic samples from the wolverine through hair, scat, or saliva found at feeding sites.

Wolverines are classified as fully protected and listed as a threatened species under the California Endangered Species Act. The public is encouraged to report sightings or observations to CDFW through its Wildlife Incident Reporting System.