By Rich Landers
OUTROAM – A documentary about a radio-collared gray wolf that captured international attention as it roamed for years from Oregon into California and back will screen in Spokane Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m., at the Bing Crosby Theater.
“OR-7 – The Journey” is based on a wild male wolf that was trapped by researchers and fitted with a GPS collar. Satellite tracking eventually was shared online as the wolf broke from its pack and ventured some 1,200 miles.
Born in 2009 among northeast Oregon’s Imnaha Pack, OR-7 was collared in 2011 before it spent three years of solo survival and exploration during which it became the first wild wolf documented in California since 1924.
After spending most of 2012 in California, OR-7 returned to Oregon in March 2013. It found a mate and sired pups in spring 2014, marking the first known wolf reproduction in the Oregon Cascades since the 1940s. The group of wolves was named the Rogue (River) Pack.
Wolf recovery in the Northern Rockies has exceeded expectations of wildlife professionals and the gray wolf has been removed from endangered species protections in Idaho and Montana allowing their numbers to be managed.
The documentary makes no attempt to conceal the filmmakers’ opposition to lethal control of wolves. Film publicity refers to wolf management as “opening the door for hunters and ranchers to once again decimate the wolf population.”
Film sponsors include groups that have filed suit to restrict the use of federal Wildlife Services in livestock and pet incidents that may require wolf control.
The OR-7 story is instructional, but should be viewed with the understanding that wildlife managers must address a wider range of factors.
A post-show discussion centered on non-lethal wolf management is planned.
Panelists will represent Defenders of Wildlife, The Lands Council, Conservation Northwest, Blaine County Commission and the Endangered Species Coalition.
Tickets: $7.50 at the door or www.ticketswest.com.