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Axios
a day ago
- General
- Axios
Wolf recovery in California still fragile amid efforts to restore population
Only three of California's 10 active wolf packs had pups this year, per new state data. Why it matters: Wolves restore ecosystem balance by keeping deer and elk populations under control, preventing "overbrowsing" — excessive plant consumption by herbivores — and allowing vegetation to rebound. State of play: Recovery remains fragile. Small pack numbers, high pup losses, limited breeding pairs, low prey availability and threats from disease and habitat change can all slow their rebound. What they're saying:"It's concerning that there's no indication the other seven packs have had pups," said Amaroq Weiss, a senior wolf advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. "For recovery to stay on track there needs to be more wolves in more places." By the numbers: 22 pups in California were born among three packs this year, per an Aug. 11 quarterly report from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Between the lines: Some packs likely didn't breed because their alpha male and female are siblings. Other packs, which had recently bred in previous years, may have had pups the state hasn't confirmed yet, Weiss told Axios. A total of 50 to 70 wolves live in California, fluctuations that vary widely because pup mortality rates tend to be high — often 50% or more in the first year — due to various natural and environmental factors, she added. Zoom in: Most of the state's wolves roam in and around Lassen National Forest in the northeast, but their range stretches from the Oregon border to Sequoia National Forest in the south. Zoom out: Elsewhere in the West, there are about 1,800 wolves in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho combined; roughly 200 each in Washington and Oregon; around 280 in Arizona and New Mexico combined; and about 10 in Colorado, per Weiss. Catch up quick: Gray wolves were wiped out in California by the 1920s amid a nationwide extermination campaign. Repopulation efforts began in 2011, when OR-7 — the first wolf identified in California in nearly a century — crossed in from Oregon.
CBS News
10-06-2025
- General
- CBS News
California launches new strike team to help stop wolves from killing livestock
The number of gray wolves in California continues to grow, and ranchers say they're to blame for a number of attacks against livestock. Wolves are a protected species, and it's illegal to intentionally kill them unless someone's life is in danger. Now, there is a new tactic being deployed in California to help prevent any more conflicts. California's Department of Fish and Wildlife is launching a new strike team to help stop wolves from killing cattle and other farm animals. Wolves are native to California but had been missing from the state for nearly a century. Today, there are now ten established packs, with an estimated 70 individual wolves, predominantly in the northern state. "You've got wolves constantly leaving the pack, and you've got pups coming in every year," said Patrick Griffin, Siskiyou County's wolf liaison. The growing number of wolves is causing concern for livestock owners "There have been over 80 cattle killed by the wolves, so that has been kind of hard for the ranchers to take," Griffin said. But just a small fraction of overall deaths are caused by wolves. Amaroq Weiss, a senior wolf advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity, estimates that "90 to 95 percent of cattle losses are due to causes that have nothing to do with any predator of any kind." The state's new wolf strike team will monitor sightings and use GPS collars to track the animals. Team members can then respond when wolves approach livestock. "The wardens that are providing the assistance might be able to do something like use rubber bullets or cracker shells or beanbag shells," Weiss said. "These are munitions which are not designed to kill. It is possible that the game wardens might also be using drones to scare wolves away." This pilot project is scheduled to last through the summer and it's voluntary for ranchers to participate. "The problem is there's still some concern among ranchers about having California Fish and Wildlife present on their properties, so in places that might work, there will be places that it won't work," Griffin said. State wildlife officials say they've also paid out more than $3 million to help ranchers deter wolves and compensate those who have lost animals in a wolf attack.
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@
