Elusive creature spotted scurrying near Oregon highway in ‘rare’ sighting, video shows
.png "A rare, bear-like creature was seen running in a field near Oregon Route 99E on Feb. 26 in Barlow, Oregon, wildlife officials said.")
A bear-like creature was spotted scurrying near an Oregon highway in a “rare” sighting, wildlife officials said.
Brandon Oswald caught the elusive animal on camera on Feb. 26 near Oregon Route 99E in Barlow, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Wildlife officials confirmed it was a wolverine — a federally protected animal that has been ruled as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
Warning: The video below contains some profanity.
The video recorded by Oswald shows a wolverine running in a grassy field toward a busy highway. It then turns around and races back toward a home before disappearing.
“Never seen anything like that around here,” Oswald is heard saying in the video.
Wildlife officials said this wolverine could be the same one that was seen last March dashing along the Columbia River near Portland and then again in Damascus.
“But there is no way to know for certain,” officials said.
A wolverine was seen again in the Central Cascades in April as it crossed Highway 20 near Santiam Pass, McClatchy News reported.
Sightings in northwestern Oregon were the first in 30 years, since one was killed by a trapper in 1969 near Broken Top Mountain, officials said.
Barlow is about 20 miles south of Portland.
Where are wolverines found?
Wolverines are widely found in Alaska and Canada, with smaller populations reported in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife officials said.
There are about fewer than 400 wolverines in the lower 48 states, which makes these wolverine sightings in Oregon rare, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
Wolverines are typically found in higher elevations and areas with snowpack, officials said.
In Oregon, the animals have been seen throughout the decades, even though it was believed they were gone from the state in 1936.
There have been wolverine sightings in Oregon from the 1960s to the 1990s in Linn, Harney, Wheeler, Deschutes and Grant counties.
Three wolverines were also documented in northeastern Oregon during a monitoring project from 2010 to 2012, officials said. The most recent sighting of the animal was in Wallowa County (northeastern Oregon) in 2022.
What to know about wolverines
Although wolverines look like small bears, they belong to the weasel family, according to Oregon Wild, an environmental organization.
The animals typically weigh between 30 and 55 pounds and have thick, blackish-brown coats.
“Some have a distinct silver face mask and stripes running from their shoulders to their rump along their sides,” the organization said.
They also have round ears, small eyes, a humped back, short legs and a “bushy” and drooping tail, according to Oregon wildlife officials.
This story was originally published February 27, 2024 at 12:44 PM with the headline "Elusive creature spotted scurrying near Oregon highway in ‘rare’ sighting, video shows."
