Oregon's OR7 has himself a wolf family now

Wolf pup photographed in Oregon July 12 is an OR7 offspring. | USFWS

The male gray wolf that walked around in far northern California for a year or so looking for a mate — unsuccessfully — has fathered puppies with the mate he found back in Oregon's Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest. At least three pups have been seen, and the litter is probably larger — typically four to six pups. Biologists with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife confirmed the paternity by testing the DNA found in some of the pups' scat. That was back in June, and now they have trail camera photos of the family. Hat tip: Chris Clarke at KCET's ReWild blog.

This is believed to be the first family of breeding wolves in Oregon's Cascades Range since the 1940s.

Previously: OR7 hooks up with a likely mate, finally poses for his closeup

Two pups in a log. | USFWS