BAKER CITY — A lone male wolf has been roaming an area that includes much of southwestern Baker County over the past several months.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has designated this an “Area of Known Wolf Activity,” and identified the wolf as OR-137.

Brian Ratliff, district wildlife biologist at ODFW’s Baker City office, said the 2-year-old wolf has “been all over the place” in the region between the mountains south of Unity northwest to the Austin Junction area. That region includes parts of Baker, Grant and Malheur counties.

Although OR-137 has stayed primarily within the Sumpter unit, based on data from its GPS tracking collar, the wolf has not been within Sumpter Valley, Ratliff said.

There have not been reports that the wolf has attacked livestock or lingered in areas close to ranches, he said.

Ratliff said the wolf had been trapped and fitted with a collar north of Elgin in early 2023.

The wolf then traveled south into Baker County.

Based on tracking data, OR-137 likely “crossed paths” with another lone male wolf that had spent several weeks around Baker Valley in March 2023. That wolf, which had been feeding on unburied cow carcasses near the Baker City Airport, later traveled southwest past Phillips Reservoir and out of Baker County, Ratliff said.

He said the animal, though it ranges widely, has consistently been in a specific region for several months.

Ratliff said it’s likely there are other individual wolves with similar habits, but ODFW can’t confirm that because the wolves don’t have tracking collars.