California’s gray wolf population continued its gradual recovery in 2025, growing by 10% to a minimum of 55 wolves statewide. The increase also coincided with a sharp rise in livestock depredations and compensation payments to producers, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (CDFW) first annual wolf conservation and management report.
CDFW reported the state had nine wolf packs and four additional areas of wolf activity, up from seven packs the previous year. CDFW identified four new packs during the year, although the Ishi Pack was later removed from the list after biologists determined it was likely the same group of wolves already being tracked as the Ice Cave Pack. Wolves are now found across portions of 10 counties in the state.
The report also showed wolves continuing to spread across California. Biologists documented 12 dispersal events in 2025, including four wolves that entered California from other states, one California-born wolf that traveled into Oregon and seven wolves that moved to new areas within California. According to CDFW, the growing number of California-born wolves establishing territories outside their original packs is another sign that the population is expanding.
The report showed mixed results for wolf reproduction in 2025. Although six packs successfully produced pups and at least 32 pups were documented statewide, only three packs met California’s breeding-pair benchmark. The Harvey, Ice Cave and Whaleback packs were the only packs to qualify, compared to five packs in 2024. CDFW said the decrease was due in part to the removal of the Beyem Seyo Pack and fewer pups surviving in some established packs.
Wolf-livestock conflicts reached new levels in 2025 as the state’s wolf population continued to grow. CDFW investigated 267 reports of suspected depredations, compared to 74 in 2024, and determined that wolves were responsible or likely responsible for 198 livestock losses. The Beyem Seyo Pack accounted for nearly half of those losses, while the Harvey and Whaleback packs were the next most frequently involved. Cattle made up virtually all of the affected livestock, with only one sheep loss recorded.
To help offset those losses, CDFW paid nearly $355,000 through its Wolf-Livestock Compensation Program. The funding went to 38 producers in seven counties for livestock deaths and injuries determined to have been caused, or likely caused, by wolves.
CDFW documented 12 wolf deaths in 2025. The agency removed four wolves from the Beyem Seyo Pack after repeated livestock depredations. At the same time, the remaining deaths were linked to vehicle strikes, undetermined causes or cases that are still under investigation.
The report also documented the first known case of sarcoptic mange in California wolves. The outbreak affected the Yowlumni Pack in the southern Sierra Nevada, where the breeding female later died, and two other wolves that died were also found to be infected. The pack shrank from nine wolves in 2024 to four by the end of 2025 and failed to successfully raise a litter. CDFW said the disease likely played a role in both the decline in pack size and reduced reproductive success.
Amaroq Weiss, senior wolf advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity, said the report presents both encouraging and concerning trends.
“More wolf packs and more new territories are exactly what we’d want for a wolf population that’s beginning to recover,” Weiss said. “But I hope 2025 is the only year where we see successful breeding pairs decline.” — Charles Wallace, WLJ contributing editor
