CDFW News

CDFW Statement on Executive Order on Gray and Mexican Wolves

Thu, 10 Sep 2026 17:13:45 GMT

As the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service begins the scientific process of determining whether to delist Mexican wolves and the gray wolf, California remains committed to both endangered species recovery under state and federal law while also ensuring the livelihood of ranchers in California.

We look forward to finding workable solutions through our partnerships, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Tribal Governments, ranchers, researchers and leaders at every level of government. At the same time, we will continue to rely on sound science and meaningful public participation when making decisions about California’s wildlife. Doing so ensures that we can help protect California’s livestock operations and the wildlife that makes California one of the world's most biodiverse places on earth.

CDFW to Conduct Helicopter Capture and Collaring Efforts for Deer, Elk and Gray Wolves in Northern California

Mon, 29 Dec 2025 15:50:07 GMT

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is initiating efforts in northern California to capture deer, elk and wolves by helicopter and outfit the animals with GPS collars.

Helicopter captures for deer and elk will be conducted in portions of Alameda, Colusa, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, Santa Clara, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama and Trinity counties throughout the month of January 2026.

Capturing and collaring mule deer, tule, Roosevelt and Rocky Mountain elk improves CDFW’s understanding of ;species distribution, habitat use, abundance, migration patterns, recruitment rates and survival.

Capture teams will be targeting wolves in Siskiyou, Lassen and Tehama counties and potentially other uncollared packs or wolf groups in Modoc, Shasta and Plumas counties. Any captured wolves will be returned to the nearest suitable public land habitat after processing.

Deployed collars will transmit data to CDFW scientists daily for up to three years and provide detailed information about animal movements, habitat preferences and locations. For collared wolves specifically, CDFW will share animal location information with cattle and sheep producers with the goal of reducing negative interactions with the understanding GPS tracking collars do not transmit data in real-time. Wolf movement and location data will automatically feed into CDFW’s online Wolf Tracker mapping tool.

Wildlife capture operations will take place on lands managed by CDFW, the USDA Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management as well as on private properties with permission from landowners. CDFW is grateful to the USDA Forest Service, BLM, timberland owners and other private parties for providing access to their lands for these wildlife capture efforts.

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Media Contact:
Peter Tira, CDFW Communications, (916) 215-3858

CDFW Captures and Collars 12 Gray Wolves in Northern California

Fri, 14 Feb 2025 12:01:12 GMT

Media Note: A link to download capture video.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has announced the recent capture, collar and release of 12 gray wolves in northern California.

There are now more satellite-collared wolves in California than ever before, which is expected to improve understanding and management of the species in the state.

“The captures exceeded our expectations and will enhance our ability to monitor our wolf population both for conservation and recovery and also to help mitigate conflict with livestock,” said Axel Hunnicutt, CDFW’s Statewide Gray Wolf Coordinator.

Capture operations occurred from Jan. 14 through the end of that month across Siskiyou, Lassen, Plumas and Sierra counties. With the aid of contracted aircraft and a capture crew, wolves from the Whaleback, Harvey, and Beyem Seyo packs were captured. In addition to fitting each wolf with a satellite collar, biologists recorded body measurements and collected biological samples, including DNA and blood. Those samples allow CDFW to monitor wolves for diseases and to determine the relatedness of individuals and packs. The wolves were released at their capture locations.

“Having multiple collars in each of these packs, especially those on younger wolves, will not only aid current studies looking at diet and land-use preferences, but also will provide data on when and where they disperse when leaving their packs,” Hunnicutt said.

Of the 12 collared wolves, seven were female and five were male:

Five were captured from the Beyem Seyo pack in Sierra County, including one that had been previously collared;
Five were captured from the Harvey pack in Lassen County, including one that had been previously collared;
Two were captured from the Whaleback pack in Siskiyou County.

Satellite-collaring gray wolves is an important management and research tool to help monitor populations, understand landscape use patterns and minimize livestock conflicts. The collars do not provide real-time data. Instead, the collars collect wolf locations several times daily and periodically transmit those locations to CDFW. The battery life of the satellite collars is about two to three years. They are programmed to drop off the animal before the battery is depleted.

CDFW is currently aware of seven wolf packs in California. While nine packs were reported in the fall of 2024, wolf packs can be fluid. For example, the Beyem Seyo and Antelope packs recently merged.

More information about California’s wolves can be found on CDFW’s gray wolf web page.

In other recent gray wolf developments:

CDFW scientists identified two new wolf packs at the end of 2024, the Diamond pack in eastern Plumas and southern Lassen counties and the Ice Cave pack near Lassen Volcanic National Park.
Wolves in the Yowlumni pack in Tulare County are infected with sarcoptic mange, a skin disease caused by parasitic mites. Mange infections cause itchy skin lesions and hair loss. Some wolves only experience mild mange signs and can clear the infection and survive. Other wolves, however, may experience severe disease characterized by extensive hair loss, secondary bacterial infections, emaciation and eventually death. Mange has occurred in other gray wolf populations across North America. CDFW continues to monitor the pack and is consulting with experts from other states where mange occurs in wolf populations. The mange infections are believed to be limited to the Yowlumni pack as none of the recently captured and collared wolves in northern California showed signs of disease.
The California Wolf Project (CAWP), a collaboration between CDFW and UC Berkeley’s Rausser College of Natural Resources, has just released its 2024 Annual Report (PDF). The project is investigating wolf habitat use, diet, relationships with other wildlife and wolf-livestock conflict.
In April, CDFW anticipates issuing its first annual report on the status of gray wolves in California. The annual report will complement the Quarterly Wolf News and Updates regularly e-mailed and posted to CDFW’s gray wolf web page.

Photos by Malia Byrtus, California Wolf Project

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Media Contacts:
Axel Hunnicutt , CDFW Wildlife Branch, (916) 204-1381
Peter Tira, CDFW Communications, (916) 215-3858

California Wolf Project Will Advance Science and Management of Gray Wolves

Tue, 29 Oct 2024 12:50:24 GMT

The launch of the California Wolf Project (CAWP) within UC Berkeley’s Rausser College of Natural Resources establishes a long-term partnership with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to advance the science and management of gray wolves (Canis lupus) in California.

With additional support from the National Geographic Society, CAWP brings together scientists, wildlife managers, and conservation communicators working with diverse stakeholders to better understand the social and ecological factors that shape wolf populations and inform management decisions. The new project integrates UC Berkeley’s expertise in ecology, sociology, economics and environmental policy, while leveraging the university’s extensive network of agency, non-profit, landowner and Tribal relationships. The CAWP team uses innovative and interdisciplinary methods to gather data on wolf spatial ecology, diet, predator-prey dynamics, and recolonization within California, while contributing to conflict reduction strategies for rural communities and livestock producers.

“It is exciting to see wolves back in California, but there are a lot of questions about where they fit amongst a rapidly changing landscape with new challenges for agencies and livestock producers,” said Arthur Middleton, CAWP co-lead and Goertz Professor of Wildlife Management at UC Berkeley. “We hope our growing team can provide new support to those interested in and impacted by the state’s growing wolf population.”

The gray wolf has returned to California after nearly a century of absence following their extirpation in the 1920s. Wolves are classified as endangered both under the California Endangered Species Act and the federal Endangered Species Act. Their natural recolonization into the state began in 2011 with individuals dispersing from Oregon. As of 2024, CDFW has reported at least seven wolf packs across California, with CAWP initially focusing on the Beyem Seyo (Plumas County), Harvey (Lassen and Shasta counties), Lassen (Lassen and Plumas counties), and Whaleback (Siskiyou County) packs. CAWP has also started to expand its work with the Yowlumni Pack (Tulare County), with the help of CDFW's Central Region staff. CDFW continues to survey for the presence of uncollared and collared wolves, based on sighting reports and other signs of wolf activity.

California’s wolf packs utilize large expanses of habitat compared to other areas in the western United States, presenting challenges for monitoring the population and questions regarding the availability of prey. The state and many landowners are mounting a variety of livestock protection and conflict reduction efforts while learning new lessons about their efficacy. CAWP is a timely initiative complementing the state’s efforts with rigorous research and an outreach strategy for collaborating with local communities affected by wolf activity.

“Given the wolf population increases we’ve recorded in the last few years and the management challenges that have resulted, there’s no better time for this partnership between CDFW and UC Berkeley,” said Axel Hunnicutt, the State Gray Wolf Coordinator at CDFW. “There are so many important management questions relating to the ecological, economic and social effects of wolf recolonization in the state that already impact California’s ecosystems and its people. The formation of CAWP is expanding our capacity to address these questions in earnest.”

The path of wolf recovery in California – the most populous and diverse U.S. state – has the potential to shape national, and even global, perspectives on wildlife restoration and large-scale conservation. CAWP seeks to develop a model for how to bring universities, government agencies and local communities together around the science and practice of improving human-wildlife interactions on a shared landscape.

“The Wildlife Program at UC Berkeley is committed to fulfilling our university’s mandate to support the people, economies and nature of California with science, education and outreach. CAWP embodies those priorities and embraces the diversity of perspectives that accompany the recovery of large carnivores,” said Justin Brashares, CAWP co-lead and Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at UC Berkeley.

To read more about the return of gray wolves in California or to report a sighting, please visit wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Gray-Wolf.

To learn more about the California Wolf Project (CAWP), please visit wildlife.berkeley.edu/cawolfproject.

Follow the project on social media for updates: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn.

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Media Contacts:
Axel Hunnicut, CDFW Statewide Gray Wolf Coordinator, (916) 628-3543
Peter Tira, CDFW Communications, (916) 215-3858
For media inquiries, please email: californiawolfproject@berkeley.edu
For research inquires, please email: wolffieldteam@berkeley.edu

New Gray Wolf Pack Confirmed in Tulare County

Fri, 11 Aug 2023 13:37:58 GMT

California has a new gray wolf pack in Tulare County, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) announced today. This is the Golden State’s southernmost pack and it is at least 200 air miles from the nearest known pack in northeastern California.

In July, CDFW received a wolf sighting report from a location in the Sequoia National Forest. CDFW investigated the reported location, found wolf tracks and other signs of wolf presence, and collected 12 scat and hair samples from the immediate area for genetic testing. CDFW’s Wildlife Forensics Laboratory performed DNA analysis to determine if the samples were from wolf, as well as sex, coat color, individual identity, relation to one another and pack origin. All 12 samples were confirmed gray wolf. The new pack consists of at least five individuals not previously detected in California, including one adult female, who is a direct descendant of California’s first documented wolf in the state in recent history, (OR7), and four offspring (two females, two males). None of the samples collected came from an adult male, however the genetic profile from the offspring indicate that the breeding male is a descendant of the Lassen Pack.

Gray wolves are native to California but were extirpated in the state by the 1920s. In late 2011, OR7 crossed the state line to become the first wolf in nearly a century to make California part of his range before returning to Oregon to form the Rogue Pack.

Wolves are protected under California’s Endangered Species Act and are federally protected in California under the federal Endangered Species Act. It is illegal to intentionally kill or harm wolves in the state. For more information and to report potential sightings, please visit CDFW’s Gray Wolf Program webpage at wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Gray-Wolf.

Photos may be used courtesy of Michelle Harris, Samantha Winiecki-Love, Ryan Slezak and Colibri Ecological Consulting, which is one group among numerous groups that reported sightings on the wolf pack.

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Media Contact:
Jordan Traverso, CDFW Communications, (916) 212-7352