By Damon Arthur
After spending about a month in Lassen County, the wolf dubbed OR7 is back in Shasta County.
The 2-year-old gray wolf apparently headed west late last week and slipped over the county line into eastern Shasta County on Saturday morning, according to the state Department of Fish and Game.
It was the latest move for the wolf, which has covered about 1,300 miles since he left his pack in northeast Oregon in September.
The wolf gained notoriety as he traveled a zigzag route southwest across Oregon. He made history Dec. 28 when he crossed into California, becoming the first wild wolf in the state since 1924.
Wildlife officials have tracked the wolf’s movements using a GPS device attached to a collar he is wearing. Mark Stopher, a senior policy adviser for Fish and Game, said OR7 is probably safer now because he is living in more mountainous and forested terrain in eastern Shasta County.
Before heading west into Shasta County, OR7 was living in more open country dominated by sage brush, which made him easier to see and possibly become a target.
Out of concern for the animal’s safety, Stopher said he didn’t want to say where in Shasta County the wolf was living.
Wildlife officials have said the wolf probably left his pack in northeast Oregon in search of prey and a mate. Stopher said wildlife officials don’t know of any other wolves that OR7 could mate with in California. There also are few elk in California, the favorite prey of wolves.
Wildlife experts have found evidence where OR7 has fed on cattle carcasses and the carcass of an elk calf that was probably dead before OR7 found it, Stopher said.
There have been no reports that OR7 has killed any livestock, he said.
Glenn Hawes, the Shasta County supervisor whose district includes eastern Shasta County, said he hasn’t heard any reports from residents complaining about damage caused by the wolf.
Stopher said it is remarkable that OR7 has traveled about 550 miles through Shasta, Siskiyou and Lassen counties and no one has seen him. Fish and Game has received many photos of coyotes and other animals from people who thought they saw OR7, but none of the sightings have been confirmed, he said.
One hunter captured an image of OR7 in Southern Oregon using a motion-activated remote camera. Other than that one sighting, the wolf hasn’t been seen in five months, even though he has traveled some 1,300 miles, Stopher said.
“He’s one sneaky dude,” Stopher said.