First image captured of gray wolf northwest of Medford

SAMS VALLEY, Ore. — A Jacksonville man has captured the first image of a confirmed gray wolf northwest of Medford.

The Mail Tribune reports one of Eric Anderson’s game cameras picked up an image on Jan. 3 of a gray wolf on federal Bureau of Land Management land in the Sams Valley area northwest of Lower Table Rock.

He discovered that and several other images of the wolf Monday when he hiked in to the area to check the cameras.

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife wolf biologist Sam Dodenhoff viewed some of Anderson’s photos and confirmed the identity. Dodenhoff said the clear photographs show the tail position, ears and canine teeth of a gray wolf.

Wolves have been spotted throughout Southern Oregon, with OR-7’s Rogue Pack the most visible and living predominantly in the higher elevation areas of eastern Jackson County and western Klamath County.

Other possible wolves have been spotted as far west as Pistol River in Curry County, and GPS transmitting data previously showed that a collared wolf wandered into southern Josephine County near Cave Junction, Dodenhoff said.

Other reports have been in western Jackson County to the Mount Ashland and Applegate Valley areas.

However, no photographic evidence has surfaced of wolves, Dodenhoff said.