A lone gray wolf has been wreaking havoc on livestock in Northern California, raising already high tensions between ranchers and the canine.
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Extensive reporting from SFGate released on Tuesday detailed the escalating conflict and problems in Siskiyou County, exacerbated by the wolf named OR-103.
There were 15 wolf attacks confirmed or suspected by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife in 2021 and OR-103 was linked to 6 of them, where he injured at least 10 calves. The outlet reported the real number is likely much higher.
The 15 attacks were a dramatic increase from the past two years, with just 9 reported in both 2019 and 2020.
At the root of the issue is that California offers the strongest legal protections for wolves in the U.S. Most states do not protect the majority of wolves, and the states that do provide legal protection, like Oregon and Washington, allow wolves to be killed if they attack livestock.
However, in California, because wolves are on the Endangered Species List, they can only be legally killed if they attack a human.
In an effort to provide relief, California this year started a new program which aimed to compensate ranchers for wolf depredations. According to SFGate, the program is still going through "growing pains" as it continues to work out fair compensation.
So far no rancher has taken the issue into their own hands and killed OR-103 themself. OR-103 remains alive as of April, 2022 and hasn't been linked to an attack in "months," the outlet reported.
Click here to read SFGate's full story.
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