First Camera Trap Detection of a Gray Wolf Movement Into Nevada

Abstract

Following gray wolf (Canis lupus) reintroduction to Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho, USA, in the mid-1990s, the species range has expanded into western Montana, eastern Oregon, and eastern Washington. By 2011, wolves reached northern California and formed multiple packs within a decade of their arrival in the state. Gray wolf observations have been sporadic, however, in the comparatively open and nonforested ecosystems such as the nearby northern Great Basin. During a broad-scale, camera-trapping study, we detected a gray wolf on an unbaited camera trap in northwest Nevada. This observation represents the 2nd confirmed sighting of a gray wolf in the state of Nevada since the 1920s and the first documented camera trap detection for the species in the state. We discuss this observation in the context of historical gray wolf presence in Nevada and the potential for the species to establish in the northern Great Basin.