Endangered gray wolves reappear in California after a century

One of the rare gray wolves living near California’s Mount Shasta.

Karen Kovacs of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said it was an incredible accomplishment for gray wolves to establish themselves in Northern California just 21 years after wolves were reintroduced in the Northern Rockies.

The state Department of Fish and Wildlife installed additional cameras in the woods after spotting a lone wolf in the county in May and July and have obtained photos of what appear to be a family of wolves, officials announced August 20.

California officials say they’ve not yet decided whether to fit the animals of the Shasta pack with collars for tracking purposes, as is done in Oregon, but suggest that they may do so with at least one of the adults.

Two adults and five wolf pups have been captured on camera in Northern California’s Siskiyou County. The group has been named the Shasta Pack for its close proximity to Cascades volcano, according to the Hullabaloo Online.

“The possibility of wolf-livestock interaction is a big concern for us”, said Kirk Wilbur, government relations director for the California Cattlemen’s Association, which represents about 1,700 ranchers across the state.

Oregon discovered its first breeding pair of wolves in 2008 and, by 2014, had a burgeoning population of 77. “We knew wolves would eventually return home to the state and it appears now is the time”.

The arrival of OR-7 marked the first time since 1924 that a gray wolf had been confirmed in California. Gray wolves that enter California are therefore protected by the ESA making it illegal to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture or collect wolves, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct in California.

Fish and Wildlife expects to release a draft of a wolf management plan by the end of the year.

A wolf that was spotted roaming the area earlier this year, following on the heels of OR7, is believed to be their father.

The Sonoma Land Trust is hosting two screenings of Clemens Schenk’s film about OR7 this week in Santa Rosa.

Though wolves rarely pose a direct threat to human safety, CDFW is recommending that people never approach, feed or otherwise disturb a wolf. DNA samples have been sent to a lab in Idaho to determine the clan’s origin.