CA: Rare gray wolf pack spotted on trails

Anticipating that wolves would migrate into the state, California declared them an endangered species last year, but the state Fish and Wildlife Department does not expect to have a management plan in force until the end of this year, Kovacs said. Wolves now call California home again.

California officials have gained photographic evidence of the first gray wolf pack in decades to roam into the state.

Although wolves play an important part in balancing the ecology, they have continued to be maligned and killed under false pretenses, and gray wolves were finally added to the endangered species list, which was supposed to officially protect them by making it illegal to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect wolves that enter into or reside in California.

Pictures of the wolves – five pups and two adults – posted on the department’s website show the family in a meadow with tall trees behind them. The department had planted surveillance cameras in the forested region after spotting an adult wolf in May and July. The pups are estimated to be about 4 months old and weigh between 35 and 40 pounds.

The new wolf pack was found recently in a rural part of Siskiyou County, said officials.

The adult wolves are suspected to be from Oregon but wildlife authorities do not believe they are descended from OR-7, the one that wandered into California in 2011.

The arrival of OR-7 marked the first time since 1924 that a gray wolf had been confirmed in California.

This discovery represents a major comeback for these animals once on the brink. “These are very resilient critters”.

Wild wolves historically inhabited California, but were extirpated.

Kovacs and wildlife experts emphasized that wolves pose little threat to public safety.

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission will consider removing state endangered species protections for some gray wolves at meetings scheduled for the fall. Wilbur said ranchers would like to have the ability to drive off and, as a last resort, kill any wolves that threaten their livestock.

As of 2014, there were 1,657 wolves in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming and 145 in Oregon and Washington, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Officials have named the group the Shasta Pack.

To enable wolves to thrive in California, an array of stakeholders – including animal advocates, hunters, ranchers and government agencies – will need to find common ground, said Defenders of Wildlife’s Flick.

The sightings of wolves have created a buzz about the return of the animals that went missing for almost a century.