Gray Wolf enters California, first time in 80 years

Environmentalists and ranchers are unlikely to ever see eye to eye regarding the Gray Wolf which just sauntered into California, for the first time in at least 80 years

OR7 isn't a really catchy name for a Gray Wolf, but at least so far, that's what the young, sub-adult wolf is stuck with. He is a two and a half year old male and his mother hails from a wolf pack in Wallowa County, Oregon as noted from an article at SF Gate. The young wolf had been wandering around near the border of Oregon and California for a few weeks and ranchers and conservationists both have a vastly different take on the benefits of a population of the predator running wild in California. The wolf, which began its tracked wanderings in February after being tranquilized and having a GPS collar placed on him, is really only doing what young sub-adult male wolves like to do. OR7 has gone for a walk-about to find another pack and maybe a mate. But with no other known wolves living in the wild, OR7 may just keep on going until he gets to Nevada or he may turn around and go home. The wolf pack from which OR7 originated is part of a cluster of wolf packs that have sprung up in Oregon from the initial Idaho and Yellowstone National Park wolf reintroduction in 1995. Since the first introduction of 66 Canadian Wolves to Idaho, the first pack in Oregon was recorded in 1999, since that time there are now four packs. With the first wolf in California comes the concerns of cattle ranchers who would much prefer to see the wolves remain outside the state.

"We do not welcome the wolf back in California," said Jack Hanson, a Lassen County California cattle rancher

Mike Fris, who works for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Southwest division suggest though that a lone wolf is more likely to subsist on dead animals.

"A single wolf is more likely to be feeding on carcasses than livestock," he said. "He's the only wolf we know of in the state of California at the moment."

Gray wolves which establish residency in California will be under federal protection, despite the state having no management plan in place and those in charge of the process in the State Fish and Game Department have no plans for a formal reintroduction of the gray wolf to the state.