The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) released its quarterly wolf management update for April through June, detailing the birth of 30 new pups, bringing the state wolf population to 63. Additionally, the agency published 14 new livestock loss determination reports investigating suspected wolf depredations of livestock.
The CDFW report showed that five of the seven known wolf packs in the state had offspring. The agency’s report revealed that the Harvey Pack in Lassen and Shasta counties and the Yowlumni Pack in Tulare County each produced seven pups. The Whaleback Pack in Siskiyou County had six pups, while the Lassen Pack in Lassen County and the Beyem Seyo Pack in Plumas County welcomed five pups each.
No pups were confirmed for the Antelope Pack (Sierra and Nevada counties) and Beckwourth Pack (Plumas and Sierra counties) this spring.
“Seeing wolves return to the places this magnificent species once called home and have these adorable new pups is as inspiring as it gets,” said Amaroq Weiss, senior wolf advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. “At least five California packs have now created families. That’s a testament to the visionary power and strong enforcement of the federal and state endangered species acts.”
For total pack numbers, Yowlumni Pack has 15 wolves, Whaleback Pack has 13, Lassen Pack has 11, Beyem Seyo Pack and Harvey Pack each have 10 and Antelope Pack has two.
CDFW provided updates on wolf activity in several areas. In northern Modoc County, two wolves were previously documented near the California/Oregon state line, but none were detected during this period, though surveys continue. In southern Modoc County, two wolves were detected last quarter, with surveys ongoing.
In eastern Plumas County, two wolves were detected this quarter, one identified as LAS28F from the Lassen Pack through genetic analysis. Additionally, camera traps in eastern Tehama County captured images of two wolves during the quarter.
CDFW also listed new depredation reports covering June to August on its Gray Wolf webpage. The new reports confirmed nine cattle depredations across eight separate events, with one calf attack attributed to the Beyem Seyo Pack in eastern Plumas County and the rest to Siskiyou County’s Whaleback Pack.
Five investigations resulted in an “unknown” cause of death, including two cases involving Tulare County’s Yowlumni Pack, one which couldn’t be confirmed “due to the advanced stages of scavenging and decay,” and one where “the carcass could not be located.”
Plumas County also had one non-depredation, while Siskiyou County recorded one non-depredation and two unknowns. Tulare County had three unknown determinations, and Sierra County reported one unknown incident.
According to a tally reported by the California Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) this year, CDFW has confirmed that gray wolves have killed 29 livestock animals in the state, including four lambs, a llama and 24 cattle. The Whaleback Pack is responsible for 18 of these losses, while eight are attributed to the Beyem Seyo Pack and three to the Harvey Pack.
This year, CCA secured $600,000 in the fiscal year 2024-25 State Budget to support CDFW’s Wolf-Livestock Compensation Program. At the time of this writing, CCA staff and officers were in Washington, D.C., lobbying for additional federal resources to help deter wolf activity near ranches and compensate ranchers affected by gray wolves. — Charles Wallace, WLJ contributing editor
