A gray wolf has made a rare appearance in the Santa Clarita Valley, marking the first confirmed sighting in Los Angeles County in more than a century.
The wolf, a three-year-old female wolf known to biologists as BEY03F, was detected in the mountains north of Santa Clarita early Saturday morning, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Just hours earlier, she had been traveling south through Kern County, underscoring the long journey that has brought her into Southern California.
Wildlife officials are tracking the wolf’s movements through a GPS collar that was placed on her last spring while she was roaming with the Yowlumni Pack in Tulare County. The Times reported that BEY03F dispersed from that area about a week ago and has continued moving steadily since then.
Axel Hunnicutt, gray wolf coordinator for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, told the Times that the wolf’s travels are far from over.
“Her journey isn’t over,” Hunnicutt said, explaining that her continued movement suggests she has not yet found a mate or settled into suitable habitat.
Born in 2023 in Plumas County’s Beyem Seyo Pack, BEY03F has traveled more than 370 miles while heading south, according to state officials. Her path has included crossing State Route 59 near Tehachapi several times in recent days before entering Los Angeles County.
The sighting is being described as a milestone in California’s wolf recovery efforts. John Marchwick of California Wolf Watch told the Times the appearance of a wolf in the region represents “a historic moment in the return of wolves for California,” crediting endangered-species protections and modern monitoring programs for making it possible to track her movements.
Gray wolves were eliminated from California nearly a century ago due to hunting and trapping, with the last known wild wolf in the state killed in 1924. The species began returning in 2011, when a lone wolf crossed into California from Oregon. Wildlife officials now estimate that at least 60 wolves live in the state.
As of Sunday morning, BEY03F was believed to be traveling through the San Gabriel Mountains, an area where no established wolf packs are currently known. Biologists told the Times that she could encounter a mate in nearby regions such as the Tehachapi Mountains and potentially form a new pack or continue roaming north along the Sierra Nevada.
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