Wandering wolf: Not yet available for new collar

Published 1:19 pm Thursday, October 30, 2014

PORTLAND, Ore. — Oregon’s wandering wolf, OR-7, has so far eluded attempts to put a new GPS tracking collar on him.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist John Stephenson tells The Oregonian that he and another biologist backpacked into the wilds of the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest in the southern Cascades and set out traps to catch OR-7. But neither OR-7, nor his mate, nor any of their pups stepped into one.

The biologists plan to try again after hunting season ends Nov. 7.

OR-7 became famous as his tracking collar traced his wanderings across Oregon and Northern California in search of a mate. Last winter he found one in the southern Cascades of eastern Jackson County.

Stephenson says the collar is still working, but the batteries are likely to run out soon.