There’s a new family of gray wolves calling the Sierra Nevadas home, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Friday.
The pack is small – one adult female and her four children – but officials say it’s a big deal. This is one of only four known gray wolf packs in the Golden State, and the southernmost by at least 200 miles.
About a hundred years ago, gray wolves nearly went extinct in California. In 2011, a single wolf known as OR7 briefly crossed into the state, becoming the first gray wolf in California in nearly a century. CDFW confirmed through DNA testing that the adult female in the newly-discovered pack is a direct descendant of OR7.
Even with these five new wolves,CDFW spokesperson Jordan Traverso says there are still only about 30 or so gray wolves in the entire state, so don’t worry about running into one.
“They are not interested in humans, and we are not on the menu,” Traverso told KNX News’ Jeff Platt. “If you actually happen to come across wolves howling, you’re in one of the few that gets to ever experience that.”
If you do happen upon a wolf pack, make yourself big and get loud to scare them off. You can report any potential sightings at the CDFW’s Gray Wolf Program webpage.
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