The Wolverine’s Cali Vacation… 101 Years Later

Exciting news for Californians. A Wolverine was spotted on the slopes of Mammoth Mountain this past month. This was the second Wolverine spotted in our state in over 101 years. The photo shown above was captured by Ryan Campbell while on the ski gondola. At first the group thought it was a small bear. But, after a few minutes of watching the creature, they noticed the long tail and short head.

Chris Stermer from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife saw the photo and stated that, “this is 99.9% a Wolverine!” Stermer stated the department was sent multiple videos of the wolverine over the past week.

The last Wolverine to be seen in California was a Wolverine by the name of Buddy. Researched suspected Buddy to have come down from the Sawtooth mountains of Idaho about 600 miles away. Buddy was spotted between 2008 and 2010 throughout Tahoe, California. With an average lifespan of 8-13 years, this more than likely is a different Wolverine that traveled down from the Sawtooth mountains. It is suspected that the United States has around 400 wolverines in the wild.

Pictured below is Buddy the Wolverine captured on a trail cam in Tahoe, California in 2010.