In The News – Researchers identified a new pack of endangered gray wolves in the Sierra Nevada
August 16, 2023 | Member Submitted
Originally published by the Associated Press 08/12/2023
SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) — A new pack of gray wolves has shown up in California’s Sierra Nevada, several hundred miles away from any other known population of the endangered species, wildlife officials announced Friday.
It’s a discovery to make researchers howl with delight, given that the native species was hunted to extinction in California in the 1920s. Only in the past decade or so have a few gray wolves wandered back into the state from out-of-state packs.
A report of a wolf seen last month in Sequoia National Forest in Tulare County led researchers to spot tracks, and collect DNA samples from fur and droppings, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Researchers concluded that there is a new pack of at least five wolves that weren’t previously known to live in California: an adult female and her four offspring.