After months of failed efforts to reduce “an unprecedented level” of livestock kills using nonlethal methods, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said it has euthanized four gray wolves from the Beyem Seyo pack in Sierra Valley.
“This decision was not made lightly nor was it easy,” CDFW Director Charlton Bonham said.
The lethal removal, which occurred last month, came as California wolf populations continue to expand and attacks on livestock become more frequent. Due to growing livestock losses by the predators, CDFW deployed over the summer a “strike team” in Sierra, Plumas and Siskiyou counties, regions hardest hit by livestock depredations.
The task force, whose work ended Sept. 30, provided round-the-clock support seven days a week for ranchers experiencing wolf conflicts and used a range of nonlethal methods to deter wolves, including drones, bean bags, all-terrain vehicles, foot presence, diversionary feeding, fladry and field presence, the department said.
But CDFW said the Beyem Seyo pack had become habituated to preying on cattle as a primary food source, and the feeding pattern was being taught to young wolves, which would leave to form their own packs and teach the same cattle-preying behavior to future offspring. CDFW said the feeding behavior “threatens both livestock and the ecological integrity of wolf recovery.”
“This shift not only undermines recovery efforts for the species in California but also risks altering generational feeding patterns and broader ecological dynamics,” the department said. “Moreover, habituation to livestock inadvertently draws wolves closer to human communities, increasing the potential for conflict despite their natural avoidance of people.”
Between March 28 and Sept. 10, the Beyem Seyo pack was responsible for 70 livestock losses, or 63% of the 110 confirmed or probable wolf-caused livestock kills during the same period, CDFW reported. The department documented 17 additional confirmed or probable livestock losses from Sept. 10 to Oct. 14. The University of California counted 92 confirmed and probable wolf depredations and attacks on cattle in the Sierra Valley region from March 7 to Oct. 6.
The lethally removed wolves included a breeding pair, an adult female and a juvenile wolf that was unintentionally euthanized because it was mistaken for the breeding male, the department said. Two other juvenile wolves from the pack died prior to the operation, likely of natural causes.
CDFW said it plans to capture three outstanding juvenile wolves from the pack and relocate them to wildlife facilities “to prevent any learned behavior from dispersing to other wolves across California.”
“The situation with this pack is far outside any comparable experience across the state or the West, making the long-term recovery of gray wolves much harder,” Bonham said. “The 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.”
Steven Fenaroli, a California Farm Bureau director of policy advocacy, said the organization supports CDFW and local law enforcement for “protecting public safety and taking decisive, science-based action to address escalating wolf predation on livestock in Northern California.”
He called CDFW’s recent actions “a measured step toward restoring balance to the ecosystem while protecting rural communities and California food producers.” Thanks to wolf data, documentation of livestock losses and rancher reports, he said “there are clear indications that regulatory agencies recognize the need for active management of wolves responsible for repeated depredation.”
Fenaroli noted that ranchers suffer more than direct losses to wolves. They also face indirect costs such as livestock stress, which can lead to reduced weight gain, and increased management expenses.
“These pressures have resulted in both emotional distress and economic strain for ranch families,” he added.
Ranchers who have been dealing with livestock depredations by wolves have long contended that the canines have become accustomed to preying on cattle and that producers remain powerless to protect their livestock. Because gray wolves are fully protected as an endangered species under state and federal law, ranchers are prohibited from doing anything that could kill, harm or harass the animals without facing criminal or civil penalties.
Concerns about upticks in livestock depredations and wolves becoming more emboldened prompted at least three rural counties—Sierra, Shasta and Modoc—to declare local emergencies this past spring, with ranchers urging the state to intervene.
Due to increased wolf numbers, California earlier this year entered Phase 2 of its plan to manage the predators, with CDFW allowing more aggressive forms of nonlethal hazing to prevent livestock attacks. The strategies were used by the strike team in Sierra Valley. The management effort deployed more than 18,000 staff hours across 114 days and engaged in 95 hazing events, with 18 Sierra Valley ranches enrolled in the program, CDFW reported.
Department staff also helped ranchers install fladry and ensure livestock carcasses were correctly disposed of to avoid attracting scavenging wolves, CDFW said.
Ching Lee is senior editor of Ag Alert. She can be reached at clee@cfbf.com.