Wolves are continuing to make a California comeback.
State wildlife officials have confirmed the presence of two new gray wolf packs in Northern California, and estimate there are now at least 70 of the endangered apex predators roaming the state — up from 44 documented last year.
The freshly minted Diamond pack is roaming terrain about 50 miles north of Lake Tahoe, while the other new pack — as yet unnamed — is ranging just south of Lassen Volcanic National Park, according to Axel Hunnicutt, state gray wolf coordinator for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Four years ago, there was just one pack. Now there are nine, according to a map released by CDFW this month. And with 30 pups born this year, more are expected to form.
“The population has grown significantly, and we’re really at an inflection point where the number of animals that are reproducing on the landscape is significant,” Hunnicutt said.
A wolf from the newly minted Diamond pack ranging roughly 50 miles north of Lake Tahoe, captured by a camera trap.
(UC Berkeley California Wolf Project)
Experts say the broad-muzzled canids can help balance the ecosystem and conservationists are celebrating their resurgence. But their presence ushers in challenges like the need to protect livestock, prompting the state to invest in research to inform management for the expanding species.
The Diamond pack, in the state’s mountainous Sierra Valley, is made up of two wolves, one of which is known to be female, Hunnicutt said. There’s no evidence that the wolves are a breeding pair.
The unnamed pack comprises two adult wolves and at least two pups, he said. They are ranging in an area that straddles Shasta, Lassen, Tehama and Plumas counties.
Images of both new packs were caught on camera traps.
The Golden State’s gray wolves were hunted and trapped to extirpation a century ago. The last documented wild wolf in California was shot in 1924 in Lassen County.
The…