August 12, 2025 - SAN FRANCISCO— Only three of California’s 10 known wolf families have produced pups this year, according to the California Department of Fish and Game’s quarterly update, which details known wolf information from April through June. The Department also issued a new report, which includes updated information through July.
“I’m glad to know at least three of California’s wolf families had pups this year but it’s concerning that there’s no indication the other seven packs have had pups,” said Amaroq Weiss, a senior wolf advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Wolf recovery here is still in its infancy and for recovery to stay on track there need to be more wolves in more places.”
The agency’s updates, published Friday, said the Harvey pack had at least seven pups this year, the Beyem Seyo pack had a minimum of six pups and the Whaleback pack produced at least nine pups. No indication of reproduction was indicated for the Ashpan, Diamond, Ice Cave, Ishi, Lassen, Tunnison or Yowlumni packs. Previously, the Lassen pack had litters each year from 2017 to 2024 and the Yowlumni pack had litters in 2023 and 2024.
On Friday the department also released an updated map of each of the 10 known packs’ territories, and additional areas of wolf activity where wolves have been repeatedly spotted but don’t yet qualify as packs. The packs and additional wolves live in portions of seven counties: Siskiyou, Lassen, Plumas, Sierra, Shasta, Tehama and Tulare.
During the second quarter of 2025, one male wolf from the Beyem Seyo pack made his way into Oregon. And a female Beyem Seyo wolf roamed several hundred miles south to join up with the Yowlumni pack in Tulare County. Two wolves of unknown origin were detected separately in the Tehachapi Mountains in Kern County.
Wolves are fully protected in California under the federal Endangered Species Act and under California’s own endangered species act.
The reestablishment of wolves in California after a nearly 100-year absence began when wolf OR-7, a radio-collared wolf born in northeast Oregon, made his way across that state in late 2011 and entered California. One of his daughters is a founding member of the Yowlumni pack in Tulare County.
“We hope it turns out more packs had litters this year than the department has been able to confirm so far,” said Weiss. “Wolf recovery in California affirms that when adequate legal protections are in place, even a species that’s been gone for nearly 100 years can return.”
2017 Photo of the Lassen pack
Credit: California Department of Fish and Wildlife
The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.8 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
Source: Center for Biological Diversity
