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Lone wolf nears Calif.

On Dec. 13 John Stephenson, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist, searches for OR-7, a gray wolf that had wandered from the far corner of northeast Oregon to the South Cascades, in Klamath County, Ore. (Associated Press)
Associated Press

A young gray wolf, known as OR-7, has become a local media darling after meandering hundreds of miles into historic new territory in southwest Oregon, but his presence now within a two-day jaunt of the California border has even more significance in the Golden State.

If the juvenile’s wanderlust continues southward, experts say he could start the repopulation of a vanished species in California, where threatened and endangered species historically have relied on the help of man.

“I can’t think of another species that was completely extirpated in California that has returned,” said Michael Stopher, who has been monitoring the wolf for the California Department of Fish and Game. “As a scientist, seeing the possible restoration of our historic mega fauna thrills me.”

The last gray wolf in California was killed in 1924 about 50 miles from the Oregon border. Livestock ranchers are warily watching this lone wolf’s progress, too.