RENO, Nev. (KOLO) – This month, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is capturing deer, elk and wolves by helicopter and outfitting them with GPS collars, according to an agency news release.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife to conduct wildlife captures in order to attach GPS collars.(California Department of Fish and Wildlife)
Helicopter captures for deer and elk will be done in Alameda, Colusa, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, Santa Clara, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama and Trinity counties.
Capturing and collaring mule deer, tule, Roosevelt and Rocky Mountain elk improves the agency’s understanding of species distribution, habitat use, abundance, migration patterns, recruitment rates and survival.
Wolves will be targeted in Siskiyou, Lassen and Tehama counties and potentially other uncollared packs or wolf groups in Modoc, Shasta and Plumas counties, the release said.
After processing, the captured wolves will be returned to the nearest suitable public land habitat, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said.
Deployed collars will transmit data to agency scientists daily for up to three years and provide information about animal movements, habitat preferences and locations.
For collared wolves, the agency will share the animals’ locations with cattle and sheep producers in order to reduce negative interactions. The GPS tracking collars do not transmit data in real-time.
Wolf movement and location information will automatically populate into the agency’s Wolf Tracker.
Wildlife capture operations will take place on CDFW, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, and the Bureau of Land Management land in addition to private property with permission from landowners.
“CDFW is grateful to the USDA Forest Service, BLM, timberland owners and other private parties for providing access to their lands for these wildlife capture efforts,” the release said.
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