A young wolf has become a US celebrity while evading capture – dead or alive – in an epic search for a mate.
The animal has traced a zigzag path across 1,200km (730 miles) of mountains, deserts and highways, from Oregon to the California border.
He left his home turf on September 10 just before state officials issued a death warrant on members of his pack – including his alpha male father – for killing cattle.
The fear is that the wanderer, known only as OR-7, may be the target of a poacher, rancher or government hunter.
His progress has been tracked thanks to a GPS collar he was fitted with by a state biologist last February.
His appearance startled lodge owner Liz Parrish who locked eyes with him on the edge of Upper Klamath Lake in southern Oregon. ‘I was stunned – it was such a huge animal. We had a stare-down, then he just evaporated into the trees,’ she said.
But her neighbour, cattle rancher Nathan Jackson, said: ‘We worked hard to exterminate wolves 50 years ago or so. They don’t seem so beautiful and majestic when they are ripping apart calves and colts.’
While wolves are state protected in Oregon, federal protection has been lifted in the east of the state.
One government hunter shot at but missed him before conservation groups won a stay-of-kill order.
OR-7 is following a well-worn instinct to strike out alone when reaching the age of two in the search for empty territory and a mate.
His meandering route from home has taken him across numerous county lines and each time he enters a new area, he makes it on to the local news.
Oregon wolf co-ordinator Russ Morgan said he was surprised by the way the public and media have embraced the wolf. ‘People have taken a shine to him,’ he said.
However, not everyone feels the same way, so a competition has been launched to change his name to something more people-friendly – and make him too famous to be shot.
The first entry, from a little girl in OR-7’s home territory, is already catching on: Whoseafraida.
Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/883181-lone-wolf-outfoxes-hunters-in-1-000km-quest-for-mate#ixzz1fBk67tKF
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