SAN FRANCISCO— The California Department of Fish and Wildlife reported late Monday that a new wolf family was confirmed this fall. The Grizzly pack consists of two adults and a pup who have established territory in southern Plumas County.

The Grizzly pack’s confirmation means that California still has 10 existing packs, despite the demise of the Beyem Seyo pack in October from an agency kill action on members of that pack tied to conflicts with livestock.

“This year has brought both joyful and tragic news about wolves’ homecoming to California, but I’m elated there’s a new pack and more than 30 new pups roaming our state,” said Amaroq Weiss, senior wolf advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity. “Wolves are still in the early stages of recovery in California and these new arrivals keep their recovery on a positive trajectory.”

At least six of California’s wolf families had pups this year, with a total of 31 pups reportedly born. The packs confirmed to have had pups this year include the Beyem Seyo pack (six pups), the Lassen pack (two pups), the Whaleback pack (10 pups), the Harvey pack (seven pups) and the Ice Cave pack (six pups).

Known wolf mortalities reported this quarter included the three adults and one pup from the Beyem Seyo pack killed by agency staff in October, two Beyem Seyo pups that likely died of natural causes, a yearling Beyem Seyo wolf found dead in August whose death is under investigation, and the breeding female of the Yowlumni pack, who was found dead in September and likely died from complications associated with mange.

Among several reports issued by the department in its Monday update was one detailing this year’s livestock-wolf predation investigations and conclusions from the beginning of January through Oct. 31. Just over half of livestock losses occurred in the Sierra Valley and were attributed to the Beyem Seyo pack.

“The Beyem Seyo pack’s loss was a tragedy because this family of endangered wolves could still be alive if ranchers had started proactively using conflict-deterrent measures three or four years ago,” said Weiss. “If we strive for success we’ll find it, but if we mistakenly think coexistence with wolves isn’t possible, then failure will find us. Though wolf recovery is still a new thing for people in California, I’m confident we can find pathways to success.”

Background

The first wolf in nearly a century to make California part of his range was OR-7, a radio-collared wolf from Oregon that entered California in late 2011. OR-7 traveled across seven northeastern counties in California before returning to southwestern Oregon, where he found a mate and settled down, forming the Rogue pack.

Several of OR-7’s offspring have since come to California and established packs. Those include the original breeding male of the Lassen pack and the breeding female of the Yowlumni pack residing in Tulare County. The Shasta pack, California’s first confirmed wolf pack in nearly 100 years, was discovered in 2015 but disappeared a few months later.

The gray wolf (Canis lupus) is native to California but was driven to extinction in the state by the mid-1920s. After OR-7 left Oregon for California, the Center and allies successfully petitioned the state to fully protect wolves under California’s endangered species act. Wolves are also federally protected in California under the federal Endangered Species Act. It is illegal to intentionally kill any wolves in the state except in defense of human life.