There are the normal mothers and then there are the mothers who hunt. Shop all 25 gifts for Mother’s Day.
Biologists were tracking elk in Nevada last week when they spotted an unlikely organization of wild canids, the Nevada Current reports. While it’s not yet official, the Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDW) suspects its elk counting team spotted a pack of wolves crossing the mountains near the northeast corner of the Silver State. If the sighting is proven by DNA analysis, it will be the first documented example of a pack of wolves crossing Nevada in more than a century.
The pack traveled together about 90 miles north of Elko, not far from the Idaho border, where wolves were reintroduced in 1995. Nevada is now relying on federal agents to verify what could be the first sighting of a herd since 1922. The Bachelor Wolf last appeared in 2016.
After the sighting, the team searched for the domain on foot. They collected samples of excrement and hair for DNA testing. They also discovered trails leading north into Idaho that disappeared due to melting snow.
“We are doing everything we can to collect data related to this sighting,” Alan Jenne, director of the Nevada Department of Wildlife, told Nevada Current. “Nevada is not an ancient habitat for wolves, and we have seen very few sightings in this state. Wolves are not known to live in the state of Nevada, however, we do know that they would possibly cross state lines for brief periods of time.
In the decades since gray wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park and the wilderness of central Idaho, the packs have migrated to several surrounding states. Oregon has just about two hundred, while California has fewer than 50. Wolves were already settling in Colorado before Colorado Parks.
Read next: Will Coloradans ban mountain lions at the polls this fall?
What’s perhaps more unexpected than the recent sighting of a wolf pack is the number of moose that Nevada biologists notice in their aerial surveys. According to NDW, Nevada’s moose population has doubled in the past five years to more than a hundred Americans in Elko and Humboldt. Counties.
Articles may include affiliate links that allow us percentages of the proceeds from any purchase made.
Registration or use of this constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use.
© 2024 Countryside