California Fish and Wildlife Department (CDFW) has confirmed the Lassen Wolf Pack—the only currently known wolf pack in the state—had its fourth litter of pups this year.
The Lassen Pack roams a broad area of western Lassen and northernmost Plumas counties, and the pack’s home range is approximately 500 square miles.
Through DNA analysis of the pups’ scat, CDFW confirmed four male pups and two females for this year’s litter. However, field observations and trail cameras indicate eight pups present.
A new breeding black male wolf was confirmed as the father of this year’s litter, and the origins of the male are currently unknown and are not related to other known California wolves.
The pack’s original breeding male has not been documented since the 2019 breeding season.
Genetic analysis indicated the original male was a 2014 offspring of southwestern Oregon’s Rogue Pack, according to the CDFW. The original male sired four pups in 2017, five in 2018 and four pups in 2019.
According to the CDFW, the pack’s breeding female is not related to known Oregon wolves. Genetic analysis indicates she likely dispersed from some other part of the northern Rocky Mountains wolf population.
The CDFW also reported an uncollared male wolf attacked and killed a calf in Modoc County on May 13, approximately 4.5 miles from the Oregon border. His DNA was collected on the calf carcass and is being analyzed to determine his geographic origin potentially. They also reported unknown determination depredation on June 21 in Lassen County.
More information about these and other wolves can be found on CDFW’s gray wolf web page at wildlife.ca.gov. — Charles Wallace, WLJ editor
