After long miles of trekking and lengthy years of searching, a male gray wolf named OR-7 may have at last settled and found its other pair in the wilderness of Oregon.
Born in 2009 to parent wolves with radio collars also placed around their necks, OR-7 is the seventh wolf to have been tracked via GPS as part of the conservationists' efforts to protect their species. He came from the Imnaha pack, a name given after the river situated in their territory.
Two years later, OR-7 parted ways with his group and began a solitary journey to find a mate and build his own pack. It's not unusual among young wolves to behave like this, experts say, because it is part of their way of life called "dispersal."
His journey was in circles, traveling from the Wallawa Mountains in Oregon and crossing the borders of California, and then going back to Oregon traversing ranches and deserts along the way. The world is all eyes with his expedition, especially after a conservation group held a contest for the children in all parts of the world to name OR-7, which earned the wolf its name Journey.
In early May this year though, the long wait may perhaps be over for the wandering wolf.
Scientists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) monitoring the wolves spotted a black female wolf roaming in the same area where OR-7 is currently staying. It was captured by the remote cameras setup by the team by the Rogue River in Siskiyou National Forest.
"This information is not definitive, but it is likely that this new wolf and OR-7 have paired up. More localized GPS collar data from OR-7 is an indicator that they may have denned," said John Stephenson, Service wolf biologist. "If that is correct, they would be rearing pups at this time of year."
The pups may have been born in mid-April but checking on OR-7's offspring may have to wait until June, as scientists do not want to endanger the growing family yet. If confirmed, OR-7 and its mate would be the first breeding pair of wolves in the Oregon's Cascade Range since the 20th century.
Under the protection of Federal Endangered Species Act, authorities hope that it could completely and successfully restore the dwindling number of grey wolves that were caused by widespread hunting and poisoned waters.
To date, there are 64 known wolves in Oregon that resides mostly in the northeast corner of the state.
The batteries in the GPS collar of OR-7 are expected to die before the end of the year but the ODFW has not yet stated whether they will be replacing it with new ones or they would give OR-7 a new collar.
