Gray Wolf’s Visit to Los Angeles County Is a First in Nearly a Century

A gray wolf known as BEY03F arrived in Los Angeles County on Saturday, the first documented presence of the species in the region in nearly a century. She roamed more than 500 miles from Northern California after being born in 2023 in Plumas County and is believed to have spent about a year making the journey.

Wildlife officials tracked her with a GPS collar placed on her in May; around 6 a.m. on Saturday the map placed her near the settlement of Neenach in northwestern Los Angeles County. The sighting marks a milestone in the recovery of California’s gray wolf population, which had been wiped out in the state by hunters and trappers in the 1920s.

Protections under the Endangered Species Act and reintroductions to Yellowstone in the 1990s helped populations rebound and disperse; among earlier returnees was OR7, a male that roamed the state for 15 months beginning in December 2011.

United States, Los Angeles County

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