Gray Wolves Seen on Camera in California National Park For First Time in 100 Years

A camera trap set up by California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) shows the original breeding female gray wolf of the Lassen pack in October 2015. Park officials have not released the camera footage of the gray wolf pack filmed last month.

A pack of gray wolves was spotted on a camera trap in California’s Lassen Volcanic National Park for the first time in almost 100 years.

The discovery of the new gray wolf pack was confirmed after images of the apex predator were captured on a wildlife camera in Lassen Volcanic National Park in northeastern California.

The species was thought to have been hunted out of Lassen Volcanic National Park back in the 1920s. But gray wolves were spotted again in the form of a small pack last month — after it was said to be hunted to extinction 100 years ago.

The unnamed wolf pack is one of nine wolf groups now living in the state, with the total population estimated between 60 and 100.

This new pack likely originates from dispersing members of the Lassen Pack, California’s most established gray wolf population, which resides in Lassen County, not Lassen Volcanic National Park.

According to The Sacramento Bee, Axel Hunnicutt, a wolf coordinator in the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), confirmed the presence of the gray wolves.

He says the CDFW first detected the pack from camera trap footage that showed a breeding pair of adult wolves and their two pups roaming parts of the park.

In November, the CDFW’s gray wolf activity map shows a pack has been spending time on U.S. Forest Service land just south of Lassen Volcanic National Park.

Lassen Volcanic National Park was once home to thriving gray wolf populations. But hunting and the absence of federal protection nearly wiped them out — with experts assuming the species were extinct.

Gray wolves were seemingly eradicated from California by game hunters during the 19th and 20th centuries, forcing surviving packs to disperse and repopulate in other states such as Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Wyoming’s Yellowstone region.

However, by the 2010s, signs of a gray wolf comeback in California began to emerge. Sightings across the state indicated that the species was gradually reclaiming its former range. Over time, wildlife officials identified and named eight distinct packs, marking a significant step in the wolves’ natural recolonization of the Golden State.

“This finding is also significant as it marks the 9th current pack in California, and the 10th in modern times since wolves began recolonizing CA in the 2010s,” Hunnicutt says.

“As this group was found to have pups, we will be working to monitor their survival into the new year as this will help quantify the recovery of the state’s wolf population.”

 
Image credits: Header photo via California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW).