It's true: wolverine is thriving near Tahoe

Two more photographs of a wolverine lurking in the Tahoe National Forest were released Monday, extinguishing all doubt that the elusive predator exists in the wilds of California.

The wolverine pictures, taken from remote digital cameras by U.S. Forest Service researchers, mean the muscular carnivore with the almond-colored stripe has either avoided detection for three-quarters of a century or returned to the state after an epic journey.

An earlier image of what may be the same wolverine was captured inadvertently on Feb. 28 by a graduate student doing research on the wolverine's weasel family relative, the marten, and set off a near frenzy among giddy scientists and wildlife experts.

The dark photograph captured the animal from behind, showing off its distinctive stripe. The latest pictures, taken March 13, show the front of a wolverine that researchers believe is the same animal.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/25/BAHKVPL1V.DTL

(Someone needs to tell the headline editor that existing and thriving are two different words. :P )

OOOOOH! Isn't he the majestic one!

If the wolverines ever return to Maine (and not the Red Dawn variety), I hope I see them from a safe distance...

along the highway warning about wolverines like the deer signs we have in every state. I had never seen one or even knew of their existence up until then. Thirty years later, my DH and I made the same trip. The signs were gone and there was development along the same highway that cut through the wilderness. I could only assume that they had been hunted down to numbers so small that there was no need to warn about them anymore. I didn't even know that California ever had a wolverine population. I guess it seems to be heading in the direction of the grizzly bear and the wolf. We need to protect our wilderness areas and our wildlife. I don't know what role wolverines play in our ecosystem but I'm sure there is one like the role the bees play that we never thought about until now.