A lone wolf has arrived in Los Angeles County, marking the first confirmed presence of the apex predator in the area in at least a century, state wildlife officials announced Saturday.
The 3-year-old female, distinguished by her black coat, was observed around 6 a.m. in the mountains north of Santa Clarita, according to Axel Hunnicutt, gray wolf coordinator for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Just four hours prior, she had been traveling through the desert south of Kern County.
Her journey is being tracked thanks to a GPS collar fitted last May while she was with the Yowlumni Pack in Tulare County. She dispersed from that pack approximately one week ago.
The location from the collar on a wolf on Saturday. The CDFW’s wolf tracker provides the last known location of satellite collared wolves within California to help livestock producers mitigate wolf-livestock conflict.
(California Department of Fish and Wildlife)
“Her journey isn’t over,” Hunnicutt said. The wolf, identified as BEY03F, is driven by a biological imperative: finding a mate and establishing a territory.
The fact that she continues to roam suggests she hasn’t yet found a suitable partner or habitat. Born in 2023 in Plumas County’s Beyem Seyo Pack, BEY03F has already covered more than 370 miles, traversing the length of the Sierra Nevada. Her travels haven’t been without risk; she crossed State Route 59 three times near Tehachapi just two days ago.
A Historic Return
The arrival of BEY03F represents a significant milestone in the ongoing recovery of wolves in California. “This signifies a historic moment in the return of wolves for California,” said John Marchwick, a writer for the nonprofit California Wolf Watch. He credited the state Department of Fish and Wildlife’s monitoring efforts and the animal’s protection under the state Endangered Species Act for making this dispersal possible.
Wolves were eradicated from California by hunters and trappers roughly a century ago, with the last wild wolf documented in 1924. The return began in 2011 when a wolf from Oregon briefly entered the state, foreshadowing the species’ comeback.
Today, at least 60 wolves are believed to inhabit the Golden State.
What are the chances BEY03F will find a mate in Southern California? The answer isn’t simple. While no wolves are currently known to reside in the San Gabriel or Tehachapi Mountains, the possibility remains that a male could be present. If she encounters and successfully mates with a male, a new pack could form. Alternatively, she may return north along the Sierra Nevada, potentially traveling hundreds of additional miles.
However, Hunnicutt cautioned that increased movement also increases the risk of encountering human infrastructure, particularly highways. “We know that in California, the highest known cause of mortality for wolves is vehicle strikes,” he explained. The fate of OR-93, another wolf who ventured into San Luis Obispo County in 2021 only to be struck by a car in Kern County, serves as a stark reminder of this danger.
