ENDANGERED SPECIES -- The California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced today that wildlife biologists have been tracking a gray wolf that has likely dispersed from Oregon into Siskiyou County in northern California.
The presence of this new wolf – whose sex and specific origins have yet to be determined – is another hint that gray wolves are on the verge of returning to California.
After nearly a century without wolves being present in the state, this new wolf is the second in the last four years known to cross the border into the Golden State.
In recent years, wandering wolf OR-7 --named for the tag it received when captured and collared by Oregon biologists -- was made famous for several trips into the California. Last year, OR-7 found a mate, bred and started the Rogue Pack in Oregon’s southern Cascades. The pack has produced another litter of pups this year and roams not far from the California border.
Meanwhile in Oregon, Department of Fish and Wildlife officials today announced two new Areas of Known Wolf Activity (AKWAs). The new areas are a result of two dispersing radio-collared wolves.
- OR25 , originally from the Imnaha Pack, traveled through the Columbia Basin, Southern Blue Mountains, and Northern and Central Cascade Mountains and has been in the Klamath County area (Sprague wildlife management unit) since May.
- OR30 , originally from the Mt. Emily pack, crossed I-84 and has been resident in the Starkey and Ukiah wildlife management units (Union County) since May.
