Scientists capture rare images of wolverine in Sierra Nevada

(AP) — Scientists following up on a rare wolverine sighting in the Sierra Nevada set up cameras and captured video of the animal scurrying in the snow, scaling a tree and chewing on bait.

Chris Stermer, a wildlife biologist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, set up the remote cameras in the Tahoe National Forest after officials at a field station sent him photos in January of unusual tracks in the snow near Truckee.

The male carnivore near Lake Tahoe apparently migrated from the Sawtooth Range in Idaho, Stermer said.

[...] the animal that scientists nicknamed Buddy has been detected more than 20 times over nearly 300 square miles, but it had not been sighted since November 2014, Stermer said.

Talk of reintroducing wolverines in California has been put on hold while the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service considers its response to a federal court order in Montana that overturned its decision denying protection of the animal under the Endangered Species Act, Stermer said.