The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has announced the recent capture, collar and release of 12 gray wolves in northern California.
There are now more satellite-collared wolves in California than ever before, which is expected to improve understanding and management of the species in the state.
“The captures exceeded our expectations and will enhance our ability to monitor our wolf population both for conservation and recovery and also to help mitigate conflict with livestock,” said Axel Hunnicutt, CDFW’s Statewide Gray Wolf Coordinator.
Capture operations occurred from Jan. 14 through the end of that month across Siskiyou, Lassen, Plumas and Sierra counties. With the aid of contracted aircraft and a capture crew, wolves from the Whaleback, Harvey, and Beyem Seyo packs were captured. In addition to fitting each wolf with a satellite collar, biologists recorded body measurement and collected biological samples, including DNA and blood. Those samples allow CDFW to monitor wolves for diseases and to determine the relatedness of individuals and packs. The wolves were released at their capture locations.
“Having multiple collars in each of these packs, especially those on younger wolves, will not only aid current studies looking at diet and land-use preferences, but also will provide data on when and where they disperse when leaving their packs,” Hunnicutt said.
Of the 12 collared wolves, seven were female and five were male.
Five were captured from the Beyem Seyo pack in Sierra County, including one that had been previously collared. Five were captured from the Harvey pack in Lassen County, including one that had been previously collared. Two were captured from the Whaleback pack in Siskiyou County.
Satellite-collaring gray wolves is an important management and research tool to help monitor populations, understand landscape use patterns and minimize livestock conflicts. The collars do not provide real-time data. Instead, the collars collect wolf locations several times daily and periodically transmit those locations to CDFW. The battery life of the satellite collars is about two to three years. They are programmed to drop off the animal before the battery is depleted.
CDFW is currently aware of seven wolf packs in California. While nine packs were reported in the fall of 2024, wolf packs can be fluid. For example, the Beyem Seyo and Antelope packs recently merged.
More information about California’s wolves can be found on CDFW’s gray wolf web page.
In other recent gray wolf developments:
CDFW scientists identified two new wolf packs at the end of 2024, the Diamond pack in eastern Plumas and southern Lassen counties and the Ice Cave pack near Lassen Volcanic National Park.
Wolves in the Yowlumni pack in Tulare County are infected with sarcoptic mange, a skin disease caused by parasitic mites. Mange infections cause itchy skin lesions and hair loss. Some wolves only experience mild mange signs and can clear the infection and survive. Other wolves, however, may experience severe disease characterized by extensive hair loss, secondary bacterial infections, emaciation and eventually death. Mange has occurred in other gray wolf populations across North America. CDFW continues to monitor the pack and is consulting with experts from other states where mange occurs in wolf populations. The mange infections are believed to be limited to the Yowlumni pack as none of the recently captured and collared wolves in northern California showed signs of disease.
The California Wolf Project (CAWP), a collaboration between CDFW and UC Berkeley’s Rausser College of Natural Resources, has just released its 2024 Annual Report. The project is investigating wolf habitat use, diet, relationships with other wildlife and wolf-livestock conflict.
In April, CDFW anticipates issuing its first annual report on the status of gray wolves in California. The annual report will complement the Quarterly Wolf News and Updates regularly e-mailed and posted to CDFW’s gray wolf web page.
