Extinct Gray Wolves Invade California—How Researchers & State Officials Plan to Protect the Endangered Species

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Hunted to extinction in 1924 as a result of government programs designed to protect livestock in the central valley, the California Gray Wolf (scientific name Canis lupus) has become all but an urban legend in the state that decimated its large populations.

Moving farther north, and away from the populous areas of California, the Eurasian species that once populated most of the United States, has had dwindled in numbers over the past century. But, for one lone wolf, California has once again become it home.

(Photo : California Department of Fish and Game)

Designated with the name "OR7", because he was the seventh Gray Wolf to be radio-tagged in all of Oregon, he has left his pack in the northern state to find his own home in California. Once a part of the Imnaha pack from the Idaho-Oregon founders, most of OR7's family has died and left him to find his own territory to hunt. A fairly common occurrence in wolf species, dispersal of the young allows for unoccupied habitats to be populated and greater genetic diversity amongst packs. However, with such sparse populations known to man, OR7 has wandered public lands throughout the timberlands of Northern California all alone.

"Even prior to the arrival of OR7, the Department had begun compiling historical information and documentation regarding wolves in California" Charlton H. Bonham, Director of California Department of Fish and Wildlife, said in the initial petition to protect gray wolves in California. "Since that time we have continued to consistently coordinate with other agencies, local governments, and stakeholders for the purpose of beginning to develop a management plan for the species in California."

Carving a 1,200 mile path between California and Oregon over the past four years, researchers have followed OR7's journey to find a new home. And now that he's settled, concern has been raised for his safety in the once volatile state.

(Photo : California Department of Fish and Game)

"[OR7] has made California part of his range for the last four years and [there is] verification that he has indeed found a mate, and they're denning with puppies just over the border in Oregon" Amaroq Weiss, West Coast Wolf Organizer for the Center for Biological Diversity, says. "California's now part of that pack's range too, so it's very, very important to have state protections."

Announcing this past June that OR7 had in fact found a mate and fathered several pups along the California-Oregon border, the California Fish and Game Commission voted 3-1 in favor of listing gray wolves under the California Endangered Species Act, which will protect OR7's family and any other gray wolves to come.