It’s official. After an investigation spurred from some video footage, the Nevada Department of Wildlife has confirmed the state’s first wolf sighting since 1922.
After acquiring droppings from the animal, the department sent the sample to the University of Idaho’s Laboratory for Ecological, Evolutionary and Conservation Genetics who recently confirmed that the scat was indeed from a male wolf originating from the Shasta Pack in neighboring California.
“While we have had a number of reports of wolves over the years, primarily in northeastern Nevada,” Brian Wakeling, game chief for NDOW told the Nevada Appeal, “this observation is of a lone animal and is not confirmation of wolves with established territories in Nevada.”
He went on to state that it is possible for wandering wolves to cross into Nevada from both Oregon and California, the department has yet to verify any evidence that wolves have taken up residency in the state.
The sighting took place in November of last year but has not been spotted again within Nevada’s borders since.