New wolverine sighting in Southwest Washington

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A new wolverine sighting was reported in Westport, Wash. on May 1.

One year after Oregon had its first confirmed wolverine outside of the Wallowa Mountains in more than 30 years, residents have reported wolverine sightings in Eugene, along the Oregon Coast and south of Oregon City.

The region’s latest sighting occurred near the Westport Airport, approximately 45 miles north of Oregon’s northernmost point. The sighting was made by Jon Buck of the Westport Pizza Company.

“You never know what you might see when you come in,” the Westport Pizza Company shared on social media. “Today we were surprised with a rare sighting of a wolverine.”

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Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesperson Beth Quillian told KOIN 6 News that it’s unclear if the wolverine seen in Westport is the same animal spotted across Oregon.

“It is not out of the realm of possibility,” Quillian said. “Given all the other rivers the wolverine has crossed over the last year, including the Willamette, and that the first sighting was on an island in the Columbia River in 2023, it makes sense that it could [or] would swim across the Columbia again. There are lots of islands in the Clatskanie area where it was last reported in Oregon, so it could have pretty easily made its way across the Columbia from that area.”

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Wolverines are the largest member of the weasel family and are widely found in Canada and Alaska. Smaller populations are also found in Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Oregon. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has asked people to report their wolverine sightings to the website iNaturalist.org.

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