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Repopulation of wolves in California

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OR-7, California's first resident wolf in over 80 years

The repopulation of wolves in California was recognized in late December 2011, when OR-7, a male gray wolf from Oregon, became the first confirmed wild wolf in California since 1924, when wolves were considered extirpated from the state. The first resident wolf pack was confirmed in 2015, after two adults migrated from Oregon and had five pups. Additional wolves have been tracked during their natural expansion into state, as the Cascade Range, which wolves have repopulated in Oregon, extends south into northern California. In 2021, the state had at least two wolf packs with pups for the first time in over a hundred years. It is likely that other uncollared wolves are dispersing through portions of their historic habitat in California.

Precursors in Oregon

Wolves in the United States were protected under the federal Endangered Species Act in 1978 as they were in danger of going extinct and needed protection to aid their recovery.[1] Wolves were reintroduced to Idaho in the 1990s and expanded their range into the northern Rocky Mountains and Pacific Northwest.[2] Wolves crossed the Snake River from Idaho to Oregon by swimming or finding a bridge.[3] The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife started studying their behavior in the wild by live-trapping the growing wolf population in Oregon and fitting them with GPS tracking collars that provide daily satellite position reports. State biologists gave a sequential designation to each wolf with a collar.[4] The vast majority remain clustered in their historic range in the northeast corner of the state, where the forests between the high mountains and populated areas are full of elk and deer.[5][6] In 2010, state biologists noticed wolves in the Cascade Range but were unable to determine if they were single dispersing animals wandering through or were starting to occupy the area. Individual wolves will roam, searching for a mate and new territory.[7] As the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) monitored the expansion of wolves in Oregon, they began in 2011 to prepare for the possibility of wolves recolonizing the state.[8] While the state did not have a program to reintroduce wolves, the assumption was that the natural expansion would eventually have wolves crossing the Oregon/California border.[9]

Initial entry and reactions

OR-7 in Modoc County (2012)

OR-7 was the first confirmed wild wolf in California since 1924. In late December 2011, the data sent by his GPS tracking collar showed he had crossed the Oregon/California border. Nicknamed Journey, he was a male gray wolf that migrated from the Wallowa Mountains in northeastern corner of Oregon. After leaving his pack, he wandered generally southwest for more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km) through Oregon, and entered northern California. He spent much of 2012 exploring northeastern California in a circuitous path across seven different counties that eventually covered thousands of miles. In March 2013, he returned to Oregon and was found in 2014 raising a litter of pups in Rogue River–Siskiyou National Forest. Being so near to the California border, he crossed back and forth repeatedly.[10] He is presumed to have died at about 11 years old, an above-average lifespan for a wild wolf.[11]

Under the state's Endangered Species Act, the California Fish and Game Commission granted the gray wolf protection in 2014. The Department (CDFW) had recommended against the inclusion as a wolf management plan being developed would protect the animals. The management plan would attempt to balance the needs of wildlife with the needs of people using the best available science. The plan could allow flexibility for ranchers concerned about attacks on livestock and deal with concerns that wolves might decimate elk herds.[12] In 2016, the department completed the plan and published the Conservation Plan for Gray Wolves in California. The management plan provides policy for wildlife managers as they handle potential conflicts between the wolves, humans, and livestock.[9] To balance ample prey for wolves with opportunities for hunters, the plan included management of deer, elk, and other game animals. The plan also covers the impact that wolves as predators may have on other species of concern.[13] A judge found in 2019 that wolves wandering in naturally from neighboring states should be protected by California's laws after a lawsuit was brought by the Pacific Legal Foundation, the California Farm Bureau Federation and the California Cattlemen's Association challenging the listing.[14] By 2019, 15 wolves in three different groups had become established in the Cascade Range of Oregon.[15] Northern California is easily accessible as the Cascades extend southerly into the state.[11] Wolves leave a scent trail that they can use to communicate and retrace their wanderings. Wildlife experts explain that it is possible for other wolves to follow said urine scent and these initial wolf sojourns can open up new territory.[10][16] In 2019, California Fish and Game Commission opposed the federal proposal to delist wolves from the Endangered Species Act. They argued that federal protection was still needed to make a full recovery since the future wolf population in California will depend on expanding from other states.[17] In November 2021, a federal judge held a hearing on a particular issue, Were wolves properly classified under the endangered act prior to losing their protected status last year?[18]

First resident packs

The Shasta Pack was the first resident pack in more than a century, due to the presence of five pups in 2015.[19] Living in Siskiyou County, just south of the Oregon–California border, the pack's breeding pair came from the same pack as OR-7, making them his siblings. Officials with CDFW said they believe the two adult wolves migrated into the state from southern Oregon when the department released a photo taken by a trail camera in 2015.[20] One of the grown-up pups was found in northwestern Nevada in 2016, the first wolf verified in Nevada in nearly 100 years.[21][22] They were involved in what was possibly the first modern predation in California when they may have killed a calf they ate in November 2015.[23] Wolves are typically scavengers so it is common for a cow to die of disease and then the wolves come in.[24] Ranchers would like the right to protect their livestock but penalties will be imposed for the killing, shooting, injuring, or taking of wolves in California.[25] The pack disappeared under unexplained circumstances.[26]

The Lassen Pack, living in Lassen National Forest[27][28] were confirmed in the fall of 2016. The first breeding male of the Lassen Pack was CA-08M, son of OR-7.[23][28] In June 2017, CDFW biologists fitted the pack's breeding female, known as LAS01F, with a tracking collar.[19] She is not related to known Oregon wolves, and genetic analysis indicates that she likely dispersed from some other part of the northern Rocky Mountain wolf population.[29] Born in 2014, possibly in Wyoming where she has half-siblings, she traveled 800 miles (1,300 km) or more through the Great Basin Desert in Utah and Nevada, or a much longer journey through Idaho and Oregon.[30][31] The CDFW and the U.S. Forest Service traced the four pups from this second pack in 2017 to OR-7.[11][27] The pair went on to have five pups in 2018, and four pups in 2019. CA-08M had not been detected with the pack since spring 2019. A black-colored adult male is the new breeding male, LAS16M, who began traveling with the pack as early as June 2019.[29] The pack had two litters of four pups each in 2020 with LAS09F, a two-year-old female, also giving birth.[32] LAS09F had six pups in 2021 but LAS01F had not been detected since fall 2020.[33] Most of the Lassen Pack's activity has been tracked across the western parts of Lassen County, and the northernmost part of Plumas County.[34][29] LAS13M (collared), a young male wolf from the pack, journeyed to Lake County, Oregon, in early October 2020.[35] The Lassen Pack survived the Dixie Fire when it burn through their home range in August 2021.[36]

OR-85, a two-year-old male wolf, left the Mt. Emily Pack in Oregon and traveled to Siskiyou County in November 2020.[37][38] In January 2021, another wolf (which biologists believed to be a female) joined OR-85 in the northernmost part of California.[39][40] Named the Whaleback Pack, the female is related to Oregon's Rogue Pack.[33] In September 2021, CDFW wolf specialist Kent Laudon confirmed the Whaleback Pack had 7 pups.[41] With both the Whaleback and Lassen packs having pups in 2021, the state had at least two wolf packs with pups for the first time in over a hundred years.[32].

Further exploration and challenges

OR-93 was the 16th documented gray wolf in the recent history of the state. The two-year-old male wolf was fitted with a purple radio collar in June 2020 by tribal biologists on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in the northern Cascade Mountains in Oregon.[42] After leaving his White River pack, he reached Mono County, east of Yosemite National Park in the central Sierra Nevada in February 2021, which is the farthest south a wolf has been tracked in California in more than a century.[22][43] Heading west, he crossed the agricultural area of the Central Valley near Fresno.[44] After being tracked through 16 California counties, the signal was lost in San Luis Obispo County.[45] The last wolf in the Central Coast area was sighted in 1826, which is nearly 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from his birthplace, south of Mount Hood in western Oregon.[46] While avoiding populated areas, the wolf had crossed three major north–south highways; California Route 99, Interstate 5, and Highway 101 along the way.[47] OR-93 may have been spotted on May 15 in southwestern Kern County in a videotape of a wolf at a water trough on private property.[48] September wolf sightings in rural northern Ventura County were confirmed by CDFW through the identification of recent wolf tracks. Due to the purple collar, the animal is assumed to be OR-93.[45] This is the farthest south in California that a gray wolf has been documented since one was captured in San Bernardino County in 1922.[49] He was found dead in November, apparently killed by a vehicle on a highway.[50][51] A truck driver notified authorities after he noticed a dead wolf along a dirt trail in Kern County off Interstate 5 near the town of Lebec.[52]

In early May 2021, OR-103, a young male who was outfitted with a GPS collar in Deschutes County, Oregon, crossed the border into Siskiyou County.[53] It is likely several other undetected wolves are dispersing through portions of their historic habitat in the state.[23] Also in May, a confirmed wolf depredation occurred in Eastern Plumas County. Evidence of 3 wolves were seen at the carcass and the wolves were named the Beckwourth Pack. Preliminary DNA analysis indicates one of the wolves in the Beckwourth Pack is LAS12F, a female from the Lassen Packs 2019 litter. Origins of the other 2 wolves are unknown but field efforts are ongoing.[33]

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ Rott, Nathan (October 29, 2020). "Gray Wolves To Be Removed From Endangered Species List". Milwaukee: WUWM. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  2. ^ Skene, Jennifer (February 6, 2012). "California's Gray Wolves". KQED. Retrieved May 15, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ Siler, Wes (April 11, 2016). "Remembering OR4: A Eulogy for a Wolf". Outside Online. Retrieved August 20, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ Barnard, Jeff (May 31, 2014). "2 wolves in northeast Oregon fitted with tracking collars". The Bulletin (Bend). The Associated Press. Retrieved March 5, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ LeGue, Chandra (February 27, 2020). "The Eastern Forests are Calling". Eugene Weekly. Retrieved March 6, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ^ Urness, Zach (June 5, 2019). "Oregon wolf plan updated, detailing when wolves can be killed". Statesman Journal. Retrieved March 5, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ Barnard, Jeff (January 18, 2010). "Cascade wolf sightings increase". The Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. Retrieved March 6, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ^ California CDFW (2011), p. 4
  9. ^ a b Arey, Ashley (December 19, 2016). "CDFW releases final wolf management plan for California". Lassen News. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  10. ^ a b Weiser, Matt (June 4, 2014). "Meet wolf OR7's new pups; California moves to protect species". The Sacramento Bee. Archived from the original on December 26, 2016. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  11. ^ a b c Urness, Zach (April 19, 2020). "OR-7, the most famous wolf in the West, represented promise and peril of grey wolves in Oregon". Salem Statesman Journal. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  12. ^ Cart, Julie (June 5, 2014). "Gray wolf gains endangered species protections in California". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  13. ^ Clarke, Chris (December 7, 2016). "State Releases Plan for Gray Wolf Recovery". KCET. Retrieved April 23, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ^ Dillon, Raquel Maria (March 15, 2019). "U.S. Moves to Take Wolf Off Endangered List, But California Protections Still Strong". KQED. Retrieved April 8, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. ^ "Oregon Wolf Population Increases, With Jump In Livestock Attacks". KHSU. April 8, 2019. Retrieved April 8, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. ^ Young, Amalie (February 10, 2002). "Wolves at Cattle Ranchers' Door". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 6, 2021. Wild wolves could follow the scent trail left by those early explorers...{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  17. ^ DiCorato, Allessandra (August 14, 2019). "California Defends Wolves, Argues Against Feds Removing Protections". KQED. Retrieved September 6, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  18. ^ "Fight over U.S. wolf protections heads to federal courtroom". MPR News. Associated Press. November 12, 2021. Retrieved November 16, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  19. ^ a b "CDFW Confirms Presence of Wolf Pack in Lassen County, Collars Adult Wolf". CDFW News. California Department of Fish and Wildlife. July 5, 2017. Archived from the original on August 3, 2017. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
  20. ^ House, Kelly (August 20, 2015). "California Has Its First Wolf Pack in More Than 100 Years". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on August 23, 2015. Retrieved August 23, 2015 – via Oregon Live.
  21. ^ Staff/NDOT Release (March 24, 2017). "Wolf sighting confirmed in northwestern Nevada". KOLO News. Retrieved March 5, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  22. ^ a b Dowd, Katie (March 2, 2021). "For first time in over 100 years, a wolf is seen near Yosemite". SFGate. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  23. ^ a b c Fimrite, Peter (May 9, 2018). "Wolves in Northern California aren't just loping through anymore; they're here to stay". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved August 3, 2018.
  24. ^ Richard, Hillary (March 11, 2022). "Wolves Returned to California. So Did 'Crazy' Rumors". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  25. ^ Grant, Richard (April 8, 2021). "Gray wolves return to California, exciting environmentalists and angering ranchers". KCRW. Retrieved May 5, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  26. ^ Maxouris, Christina (July 29, 2020). "In California's only known wolf pack, there are now at least 8 new pups". CNN. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  27. ^ a b Theen, Andrew (July 6, 2017). "OR-7 Is a Grandpa to a New California Wolf Pack". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on August 2, 2017. Retrieved August 2, 2017 – via OregonLive.
  28. ^ a b "California's Lassen Wolf Pack Has Pups Second Straight Year" (Press release). Center for Biological Diversity. July 28, 2018. Retrieved August 3, 2018.
  29. ^ a b c Moore, Debra (August 10, 2020). "Wolf family expands; locals share sightings". Plumas News. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  30. ^ Skropanic, Jessica (August 6, 2019). "Fish and wildlife releases video of gray wolf litter born to Lassen Pack". Redding Record Searchlight. Retrieved March 6, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  31. ^ Grant, Richard (April 2021). "The Wolf That Discovered California". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved October 3, 2021.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  32. ^ a b "Two of California's Three Wolf Packs Confirmed to Have Pups" (Press release). Center for Biological Diversity. August 3, 2021. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
  33. ^ a b c "Known Wolves - July/August 2021". CDFW News. California Department of Fish and Wildlife. August 3, 2021. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
  34. ^ Sabalow, Ryan (December 23, 2020). "An endangered wolf was shot to death in California. Then the armed agents showed up". Sacramento Bee. Retrieved March 1, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  35. ^ "Gray wolf from California pack spotted in southern Oregon". KVAL. The Associated Press. October 29, 2020. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  36. ^ Sabalow, Ryan (August 27, 2021). "California wolf pack spotted alive amid destruction of Dixie Fire. 'It's total luck". The Sacramento Bee.
  37. ^ "New pair of gray wolves spotted in Northern California". KTLA. Associated Press. February 4, 2021. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
  38. ^ Kinkade, Skye (March 16, 2021). "California wolves update: newly named 'Whaleback Pair' carves out territory in Siskiyou". Mount Shasta Herald. Retrieved March 17, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  39. ^ Kinkade, Skye (January 28, 2021). "Wolves in California: Siskiyou is home to a new pair". Mount Shasta Herald. Retrieved February 2, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  40. ^ Martinez, Fernando (February 1, 2021). "Pair of wolves move to California, adding to the state's low wolf population". SFGATE. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  41. ^ "Northern California's Newest Wolf Pack Welcomes First Litter of 7 Pups". Active NorCal. September 10, 2021. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
  42. ^ Orlean, Susan (December 14, 2021). "The Wolf That Roamed to Southern California". The New Yorker. Condé Nast. Retrieved December 18, 2021.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  43. ^ Murdock, Jason (March 1, 2021). "Scientists say first wolf found near Yosemite for century is a "beacon of hope"". Newsweek. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
  44. ^ Sahagún, Louis (May 22, 2021). "Rumors have been flying since an adventurous wolf went missing in California". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 1, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  45. ^ a b Burns, Jes (October 4, 2021). "Oregon wolf's epic trip to Southern California could be among the century's longest". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Retrieved October 5, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  46. ^ Chamings, Andrew (April 7, 2021). "Lone wolf's epic Calif. journey has taken a turn toward the ocean". SFGATE. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  47. ^ "Location of gray wolf that made historic trek into SLO County now unknown". KSBY. April 28, 2021. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
  48. ^ Cox, John (August 27, 2021). "Gray wolf spotted in southwestern Kern". The Bakersfield Californian. Retrieved August 28, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  49. ^ "Gray Wolf in Ventura County Possibly OR-93". CDFW News. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
  50. ^ Rott, Nathan (November 24, 2021). "A famously far-ranging gray wolf is found dead in Southern California". NPR News. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  51. ^ Walker, Alissa (January 12, 2022). "World's Largest Wildlife Crossing Is Finally Under Way in Los Angeles". Curbed. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
  52. ^ Carlson, Cheri (November 24, 2021). "Gray wolf OR-93, famed for historic odyssey, found dead after being struck by car in Kern County". Ventura County Star. Retrieved November 25, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  53. ^ Seidman, Lila (May 11, 2021). "On the heels of one rare gray wolf's epic journey into California, another arrives". phys.org. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 14, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

Bibliography

Gray Wolves in California: An Evaluation of Historical Information, Current Conditions, Potential Natural Recolonization and Management Implications (Report). California Department of Fish and Wildlife. December 2011.{{cite report}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

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