Wolves in the Watershed

At SYRCL’s 23rd annual Wild and Scenic Film Festival, the films Mollie’s Pack and Among the Wolves connected audiences with wolf stories from Wyoming to Russia. Meanwhile, California wolves continue to roam south, likely into the upper reaches of the Yuba River watershed. Let’s check in with the wildlife continuing to inspire in our own backyard. 

Wolves in California 

Attention was first drawn to the natural reintroduction of gray wolves (Canis lupus) to California in late 2011 with the story of OR-7, the lone wolf born in Oregon who left his natal pack to establish territory in Northern California. Since then, seven confirmed wolf packs have colonized the Southern Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountains of California, including two new packs, the Diamond and Ice Cave, that were discovered in late 2024.  It has been previously reported that nine packs were known, but the Antelope pack, whose territory spans Nevada and Sierra County, and the Beyem Seyo Pack in Sierra and Plumas County recently merged. These wolves roam our very own backyard!  

In January of 2025, California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) biologists captured and collared 12 new wolves, five of which were members of the Beyem Seyo pack in Sierra County. Placing radio collars on wildlife allows resource agencies to monitor their movements across the landscape. Understanding how wolf packs utilize habitat can help managers mitigate potential threats such as vehicular strikes and wolf-livestock conflicts.  

Wolves and the Ecosystem  

Wolves are a keystone species, meaning they have a disproportionate impact on their ecosystem relative to their abundance. When a keystone species is removed from their historic range, its impact can be felt throughout all trophic levels of an ecosystem. A classic example of this is demonstrated by the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park, a story featured in Mollie’s Pack at SYRCL’s Wild & Scenic Film Festival this year. In this forward-thinking experiment which began in 1995, researchers found that reintroducing wolves to the landscape inspired a cascade of ecological benefits. The increased predative pressure on native ungulates (mammals with hooves) decreased herbivory and allowed vegetative communities to rebound, boosting beaver populations and promoting healthier rivers. Unlike this example, however, wolves have reclaimed California on their own, without the intervention of humans.  This is a great news for rebalancing the ecology of the Sierra Nevada. However, it can give rise to challenges where human presence overlaps with wolves’ natural range.

Wolves are opportunistic carnivores, but they primarily prey upon hooved mammals like deer, elk, moose, caribou, and bison. If natural prey items are not abundant, wolves may resort to hunting domestic livestock, though it is not their preferred food source. In 2024, SYRCL’s Wild & Scenic Film Festival featured a film, Range Rider, which follows the story of Daniel Curry — a man on the front lines of rising tensions between rural ranching communities in Washington and gray wolves. As a range rider, he serves as a human presence protecting livestock herds from wolf predation as they roam public lands as means of reducing poaching and state sponsored culls.  

As wolves become more prevalent on the landscape, human communities will have to develop creative ways to coexist. 

Wolf Resources  

Think you’ve seen a wolf? Report a sighting here!  

Despite their name, gray wolves may display a variety of coat colors, including white, tan, black, or any combination. They are commonly mistaken for coyotes (Canis latrans), but are much larger, weighing around 100lbs, compared to coyotes, which are around 30 lbs. The snout of a coyote is narrower than a wolf, and its ears are larger compared to the size of its head.  In the Wild & Scenic Film Festival film Among the Wolves, Yves the painter and Olivier the photographer have the extraordinary experience of witnessing and recording one wolf pack up close through a lookout throughout the seasons.  The film immerses the viewer into the world of wolves in an incredibly intimate manner.

Sometimes, you may hear a wolf without ever seeing one.

Wolf vocalizations are deeper and more drawn out:

as opposed to the sharper yips of a coyote:

For full resource, see CDFW’s Distinguishing Between Coyotes, Wolves, and Dogs 

Resources for wolf-livestock conflicts  

It is important to recognize that, because gray wolves are protected under the California Endangered Species Act and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Federal Endangered Species Act, it is illegal to hunt, pursue, harass, catch, capture, or kill gray wolves regardless of threat they may pose to livestock or pets. However, there are resources available for ranchers that may be affected by wolf depredation (loss of domestic animal life due to predation). 

To learn more about tools for non-lethal deterrents to protect livestock, see Tools for California Livestock Producers to Discourage Wolf Presence, Guidance for Suspected Wolf Depredation, and Wolf Legal Status   

To learn more about grant programs for compensation for wolf depredation, visit CDFW Wolf Livestock Compensation Grants. 

Interested in learning more about California gray wolves? 

• Attend Sierra Streams Institute’s Sci Pub on Wolves in California on March 25^th at Gold Vibe! 

• CDFW prepares quarterly wolf status reports available for public consumption. To sign up to receive these reports and other wolf related updates, subscribe here.  

• Check out the work local organizations like California Wolf Foundation and UC Berkeley’s California Wolf Project  

If you didn’t catch the films discussed here, you can get access to the full library of WSFF films as a SYRCL member! Recently renewed members can look on the back of their membership cards for instructions on how to access the Digital Film Library.  For questions about joining, renewing, or your membership status, please email Tony@yubariver.org or Kwhite@yubariver.org.