Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Oregon's wolf OR-7: Fresh photos confirm pack has at least 3 pups

 

By Lynne Terry

on July 24, 2014

Fresh photos snapped in the wilds of southern Oregon confirm that the state's famous wandering wolf, OR-7, has at least three mouths to feed.

The images show two gray pups in about the same area where last month John Stephenson, a wolf coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, captured pictures of a black pup. Stephenson, who's been monitoring feeds from OR-7's radio collar, suspects the litter is even bigger. They usually range from four to six pups.

But getting a family portrait is tough. The cameras, located in a remote area of the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, are stationary and can only capture what runs in front of them. "We were hoping they would lead the pups out in front of the camera and we'd get a nice shot," Stephenson said. "But they didn't pose for us."

Biologists have a keen interest in OR-7. Born in the Imnaha pack in northeast Oregon, he spent three years searching for a mate in a journey that took him as far as California. The birth of the pups marks the first known wolf reproduction in the Oregon Cascades since the 1940s.

OR-7's mate, a small black female, was captured in the recent photos with a small white object in her mouth that looks as if she's bringing a sandwich home to the kids. Stephenson said it's most likely a bone, which wolves like to gnaw on, just like dogs.

When he retrieved the photos last Thursday, Stephenson didn't see any wolves. He said the pack had moved on. But he said the images indicate the pups are thriving. "They have these huge feet on little bodies, just like a dog," Stephenson said. "They'll grow into them as they get bigger."

The pups were born in April and now weigh about 30 pounds, Stephenson said. They're increasingly mobile. So is OR-7, judging from his radio collar. The collar is only sending feeds every four or five days now instead of every day. The device could be near the end of its life or it could be that OR-7 is frequenting areas that are too remote to be picked up by satellite, Stephenson said.

Biologists plan to try to recollar him or his mate in late summer or early fall. They want to wait until the pups are bigger and the family is stabilized. "This is a demanding time for the adults," Stephenson said. "They have to keep finding food for the pups."

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