On May 20, 2023, a normal ski day at Mammoth Mountain turned into one of the rarest CA wildlife encounters of the century. Ryan Campbell was in a ski lift with a friend and two strangers when the group spotted a wolverine dashing up the ski slope in the distance. Campbell managed to snap a picture of the animal, telling SFGATE, “A skier was coming down the slope and took the jump, likely never having seen how close they were.” See the picture here.
California’s wolverine population was once a significant force throughout the Sierra Nevada Mountains, but the animals were wiped out at the beginning of the 20th century with the arrival of human settlers.
The state’s last known wolverine died in 1922, and another one wasn’t spotted until 2008 in the Tahoe National Forest near Truckee, CA. The male wolverine known as Buddy was believed to have wandered to California all the way from Idaho, making periodic appearances on wildlife cameras in the years following.
That brings us to the 2023 wolverine sighting this May at Mammoth Mountain, 15 years after Buddy was first spotted in California. Since wolverines don’t usually live longer than 5-13 years in the wild, this is likely a different wolverine that has once again wandered far from home.
Wolverine in the United States
According to the National Wildlife Federation, there are an estimated 25-300 wolverine living in the lower 48 states of the U.S. — mainly in the North Cascades of Washington; in the Northern Rockies of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming; and in the Wallowa Range in Oregon. There are also populations in Alaska, Canada, and Russia.
The American wolverine population is in danger due to climate change as they require a deep snow pack to birth their young. It’s estimated that the existing wolverine habitat in the lower US will reduce by 30% within 30 years and 60% within 70 years.
Conservation groups have worked for decades to protect the wolverine population in the continental U.S. but progress has been slow. The Center for Biological Diversity has sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service several times for not protecting the wolverine under the Endangered Species Act; and the Institute for Wildlife Studies has proposed a plan to re-establish wolverines in the Sierra Nevada. Be sure to visit their respective websites to learn more about their efforts.