California's first wolf pack in about a century.

Image credit: (California Department of Fish and Wildlife)

The pack of wolves were photographed by trail cameras near McCloud and is called the "Shasta Pack" because of its proximity to Mt Shasta. The pack consists of a group of adults and five pups.



See also:



www.sacbee.com/news/local/environment/article31632431.html



www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-ln-california-wolf-pack-08132015-story.html

Attachments:

Californias first wolf pack.kmz (1.08 KB)

Hill, it's nice to hear about California wolves, I hadn't really kept informed about them. Oregon's wandering wolf, OR-7 (also known as Journey), passed near where I live 3 1/2 years ago on its way to Siskiyou County, California. It fathered several pups in 2014 by a female from NE Oregon and still wanders back and forth between Oregon and California. Now, another Oregon wolf, this one without a GPS collar, was seen in July on a trail camera and tracks were seen on a trail. The Oregon Dept of Fish and Wildlife believed it, too, was headed for Siskiyou County, where your Shasta Pack is located. 




The origin of these wolves is a large pack in NE Oregon, called the Imnaha Pack, which had migrated from Idaho in 2008. As of the end of 2014 there were 77 confirmed wolves i Oregon with 8 breeding pairs. OR-7 is the founder of what's now known as the Rogue Pack, named for the Rogue River, near which the pack is now based. This is not the best image, but OR-7's wanderings are marked in orange.




The genealogy of these packs is fascinating (once I started reading about it, I couldn't stop). "Wolf OR-7’s father is known as OR-4. He is the largest wolf to be collared by the state of Oregon, and also suspected to be responsible for many of the livestock depredations by the Imnaha pack." (Source of quote and above map.)  All of Oregon's "High Desert" - about 1/2 of the state - is cattle country and, naturally, the ranchers are not happy about their wolves.


Map

So, it looks like you can expect more wolves in California.