GRANTS PASS, Ore. — Genetic tests indicate that the mate of Oregon’s famous wandering wolf, OR-7, found in the Cascade Mountains of southwestern Oregon could have been the girl next door when he was growing up hundreds of miles away in northeastern Oregon.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Friday that scat samples picked up by biologists in May and July were analyzed by a laboratory at the University of Idaho. The report says DNA extracted from the scat show the mate is indeed a wolf, and two of the pups belong to OR-7 and his mate.
The report does not specifically say where the mate comes from, but she is related to the Minam and Snake River packs in northeastern Oregon. They each occupy territories neighboring OR-7’s Imnaha pack.
“We want to see genetics travel and genetic interchange between the packs, and this confirms that is happening in Oregon,” said department spokeswoman Michelle Dennehy.