This is the third part of Mongabay\u2019s series on the expanding wolf population in California. Read the first and the second parts.<\/p>\n
In late October, wildlife authorities in the U.S. state of California announced they captured and euthanized three adult gray wolves and shot a juvenile dead, all from the Beyem Seyo pack in the Sierra Valley. Wardens killed them, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) said, because the wolves (Canis lupus) had become \u201chabituated to preying on cattle\u201d rather than hunting elk, deer and other wild prey.<\/p>\n
The wolves killed were a breeding pair, an adult female, and a juvenile male \u201cmistaken\u201d for the adult male. Officers also found the remains of two other juveniles from the same pack that were severely decomposed. The cause of death remains unknown, and authorities are investigating.<\/p>\n
This pack took down at least 88 head of cattle between January and October 2025 according to a new CDFW report \u2014 about half of the 175 livestock deaths statewide and one of the highest rates in any western U.S. state where wolves live.<\/p>\n
The killings follow months of using nonlethal deterrents to keep wolves away, including drones, all-terrain vehicles, flapping strips of bright-colored \u201cfladry\u201d strung along fences, and round-the-clock human presence. CDFW deployed a strike team in June, where officers spent more than 18,000 staff hours using these methods, also called hazing, but the wolves continued killing cattle.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Beyem Seyo pack became so reliant on cattle at an unprecedented level, and we could not break the cycle, which ultimately is not good for the long-term recovery of wolves or for people,\u201d CDFW director Charlton H. Bonham said in a press release. So far, the state\u2019s nine other wolf packs haven\u2019t targeted livestock in this way, and the department continues to monitor them.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the first state-authorized killing of gray wolves in California since they moved south across the border from the state of Oregon in 2015 and established their first packs, resuming residence after nearly a century\u2019s absence. It comes at a time when the canids, protected at both the federal and state levels, are expanding their territory and fueling ranchers\u2019 fears about wolves preying on cattle \u2014 though the population remains relatively small and vulnerable.<\/p>\n
On November 17, wildlife officials confirmed a new wolf pack in southern Plumas County, the Grizzly pack, after they captured trail camera images of a wolf pup. CDFW designates pack status when a group has a litter. This pack is the fourth the agency confirmed this year, bringing the state\u2019s total back up to 10 after the elimination of Beyem Seyo.<\/p>\n