<p>OR-16 after being radio-collared Nov. 1 north of Elgin in Union County.</p>

A wolf recently captured, collared and photographed north of Elgin has crossed the Snake River into Idaho.

OR-16, an 85-pound yearling male wolf, crossed from Oregon into Idaho on Dec. 19, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife reported. ODFW captured OR-16 on Nov. 1 and fitted the animal with a GPS collar. ODFW later determined that he was part of the Walla Walla pack in northern Umatilla County.

According to ODFW, dispersal of young wolves away from their natal pack into new areas is a normal part of wolf ecology and OR-16 is the second radio-collared wolf to disperse from Oregon into Idaho.

The first Oregon-to-Idaho dispersal wasnt a propitious move for the collar-wearer concerned. In July 2011, OR-9, a male from the Imnaha pack, apparently swam across Brownlee Reservoir to reach Idaho. After first traveling south towards Weiser, OR-9 later headed north into the Cuddy Mountain area, and thereafter traveled south and east into the mountains near Emmett, where a hunter shot and killed him on Feb. 2, 2012.

Meantime, OR-7, a litter mate of OR-9, is the most celebrated dispersing wolf of modern times, having trekked all the way to Oregons southern border and crossing into California on Dec. 28, 2011. Although the male wolf crossed back into Oregon at least once, he returned to California, where he remains today.

Environmental group Oregon Wild, which sponsored a contest to name the far-wandering wolf (the winning name: Journey), recently joined 24 other wildlife conservation, education and protection organizations in Oregon, California and Washington in forming the Pacific Wolf Coalition, an alliance committed to recovering wolves across the region.