Latest news with #AmaroqWeiss
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
California's wild wolf population is howling back
Wild wolves are making a major comeback in California. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife confirmed on Tuesday that three new wolf packs have developed in the state: the Ishi pack in eastern Tehama County, the Tunnison pack in central Lassen County and the Ashpan pack in eastern Shasta County. This brings the total number of known wolf packs in California to 10. Amaroq Weiss, a senior wolf advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity, is celebrating the news. 'How wonderful to witness another year of continued growth in California's recovering wolf population,' Weiss said in a news release. 'It's inspiring to watch this renaissance, and we should do everything we can to ensure California's wolves have every chance to thrive.' Confirmation of the new packs is the latest step forward in the decades-long effort to reestablish wolves across the western United States. The gray wolf, native to California, was eradicated by the mid-1920s. Their return began with OR-7, a wolf from Oregon who entered California in late 2011. The first packs were confirmed in Washington and Oregon in 2008, followed by California in 2015. By the end of 2024, wildlife officials counted 75 individual wolf pack territories across the three states. In addition to the three new packs, California is home to the Whaleback pack in Siskiyou County, the Lassen pack, the Diamond pack, the Beyem Seyo pack, the Ice Cave pack, the Harvey pack and the Yowlumni pack, according to the CDFW. The department also noted two smaller groups of two to three wolves in northern California that do not yet qualify as packs. While many people are celebrating the return of wolves to California as a success, there are significant concerns, primarily among ranchers and rural communities, in areas where wolves are re-establishing themselves. 'The wolves are displaying behavior that is atypical,' wrote Lassen County Sheriff John McGarva in a recent letter to CDFW, saying the animals are increasingly encroaching on residential areas and seem to be unfazed by typical deterrents. He said wolves had reportedly killed six calves in the Big Valley area in March. Wolves are currently protected under both the California and federal Endangered Species Acts, underscoring the ongoing commitment to their recovery. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS News
28-05-2025
- General
- CBS News
3 new California gray wolf packs confirmed in Lassen, Shasta, Tehama counties
Wildlife officials say three new wolf packs have been confirmed in three Northern California counties. The findings come after a number of California counties have declared local states of emergency in response to increasing reports of wolf encounters with livestock. With the new packs, which were reported Tuesday by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the total count of known wolf families in the state is now up to 10. Wolf advocates hailed the arrival of the new packs. "How wonderful to witness another year of continued growth in California's recovering wolf population," said Amaroq Weiss with the Center for Biological Diversity in a statement. However, local leaders have urged wildlife managers to take a more aggressive approach against wolves. "These wolves are showing no fear of people and are attacking livestock near family homes," said Shasta County Supervisor Corkey Harmon in a previous statement regarding their emergency declaration. The three new wolf packs were confirmed in eastern Tehama County, central Lassen County, and eastern Shasta County, according to wildlife officials. Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, Sierra and Shasta counties have all adopted similar emergency declarations in response to wolf encounters. Fish and Wildlife closely monitors California's wolf population, which only recently reemerged after being driven to extinction nearly a century ago. The animals are believed to have wandered back into California from Oregon. Wolves are classified as a recovering endangered species in California, meaning it is illegal to take them anywhere in the state.
Yahoo
06-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Washington wolf numbers dip in 2024
Apr. 6—Washington's population of gray wolves decreased even as the number of packs grew slightly, according to estimates released by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife on Saturday. At the end of 2024, the agency estimated there were 230 wolves in Washington, 43 different packs and 18 breeding pairs. The overall population estimate declined 9 percent compared to 2023 when the state's wolf count was 254 in 42 packs with 24 breeding pairs. "The state's wolf population grew by an average of 20% per year since the first (state) wolf survey in 2008, until 2024," statewide wolf specialist Ben Maletzke said in a news release. "Despite reduced population counts statewide, the number of packs increased in the North Cascades in 2024, and both the North Cascades and Eastern Washington Recovery regions continued to meet or exceed recovery objectives for the fifth year in a row." In southeastern Washington, the Couse pack had at least four members, the Columbia Pack had eight, the Grouse Flats pack had nine members and the Tucannon pack had a minimum of four members. The Butte Creek, Couse, Columbia and Grouse Flats packs were among the 18 documented to have successfully raised pups — also known as a breeding pair. The number of packs to produce and raise pups that survived the year declined 25 percent from 2023 to 2024. The department tallied 37 wolf mortalities. Of those 19 were harvested by tribal members, four were killed by the agency for attacking livestock — including two from the Couse Pack — and seven were killed illegally. Wolves were involved in 40 documented attacks on livestock that resulted in the deaths of 17 cattle and one domestic dog. Two calves were judged to have likely been killed by wolves, 26 cattle were injured by wolves, and wolves were the probable cause of another 10 cattle injured. Daily headlines, straight to your inboxRead it online first and stay up-to-date, delivered daily at 7 AM The conservation group Center for Biological Diversity called the drop dramatic. "The disturbing drop shows how right the Fish and Wildlife Commission was to reject last year's proposal to reduce state-level protections for Washington's wolves," the group's senior wolf advocate Amaroq Weiss said in a news release. Last year, the department recommended that wolves be downlisted from endangered under the state law to sensitive. But the commission rejected the move. Anatone cattle rancher Jay Holzmiller said the department's estimate may be well shy of the actual number of wolves on the ground. "You have to remember this is the minimum and there are really good odds there are more wolves out there than they are counting," he said. "At the end of the day, we are way beyond what their quote-unquote management level was and they should be downlisted. I feel strongly on that." Federally, wolves in the western two-thirds of Washington are protected as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Wolves in the rest of the state are not federally protected. Barker may be contacted at ebarker@
