The Gray Wolf, known as OR-93, is a 2 year old male wolf that has made a long journey from his birthplace all the way to Fresno County, a 700 miles trip. OR-93 wears a purple collar, which would not only make him easier to distinguish but it also keeps track of his location. Officials are doing their best to educate the public on how to differentiate a wolf from coyotes and domestic dogs.
For starters, wolves don’t have blue eyes, and their eyes inner corner slant downwards. Their footprints are usually straight, unlike a dog’s wandering footprints, and are large, which will help differentiate themselves from the much smaller coyote.OR-93 has apparently crossed the six-lane freeway, Highway 99 in order to end up in Fresno County.
Other than becoming road kill, he faces additional threats in the fertile Central Valley, such as from potentially trigger happy farmers. Other gray wolves in the past met unfortunate fates. OR-59, a male, was shot and killed in Modoc County in December 2018 (this has been the subject of an intense investigation you might be interested in looking up.) Or the pack of seven that has gone missing since 2015.
Source: The Fresno Bee