By Matt Weiser, Sacramento Bee

The wolf known as OR7 who roamed California for more than a year is now raising pups just over the state line in Oregon, wildlife officials have confirmed.

The news greatly increases the odds that gray wolves eventually will repopulate the Golden State. It comes on the same day that the California Fish and Game Commission, meeting in Fortuna on Wednesday, voted 3-1 to protect wolves under the state Endangered Species Act.

In a field visit to OR7’s location in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest on Monday, biologists observed two pups and photographed them peeking out of a log. Officials at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said it is “likely” there are more pups, because wolves typically produce four to six in a litter.

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