The truth is, finding a worth mate is tough no matter what species you belong to. Birds have to perform elaborate dances. Humans have to put down their cell phones from time to time. No one’s tribulations, however, top those of OR-7, a gray wolf whose life has taken him all over the Pacific Northwest in search of a mate. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, he just might have found one.

OR-7 first made headlines in late 2011, when he broke away from his pack in northern Oregon and eventually made his way into southern California. Unbeknownst to OR-7, that made him the first documented wild wolf in California in nearly a century, and thus wildlife officials and animal enthusiasts began to follow his exploits as though he were a Hollywood star. OR-7 quickly returned to Oregon, but was seen making occasional trips in to California.

Wildlife officials said Monday that remote monitoring cameras in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest captured several images of what appears to be a black female wolf in the same area where OR-7 is currently located, the Cascade Mountains region in southwestern Oregon. That, combined with a lack of activity on his GPS tracking collar indicates that he may in fact be “denning” with the female and raising pups. If so, they would likely have been born in April. Since the early months are a sensitive time for wolf families, researchers won’t be able to know for sure until June.

If he is indeed a father, OR-7 will have scored himself another first: If he has pups, it would be the first known wolf breeding in the Oregon Cascades since the early 20th century.

Researchers say that if the family has settled in the Cascades, they aren’t likely to go anywhere. OR-7’s forays into California might be finished, though researchers note that the site of his possible den is only 40 or 50 miles from the California border.