One of the strictest in the country, the Endangered Species Act of California protects both urban and rural areas equally. It is prohibited to hurt or kill wolves in California.
Tracking where the wolves roam and collecting blood samples, DNA samples and other health information whenever practicable helps the state’s fish and wildlife agency better understand who remains and who leaves and where they settle.
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Wolves, and Misinformation About Them, Make a California Comeback
Some wolves have satellite modems attached to their neck collars. The fish and wildlife departments in Oregon and California periodically exchange information from collars on specific wolves.
Uncollared wolves have been spotted on trail cameras and in DNA samples from the California counties of Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, and Siskiyou.
Even the Dixie wildfire, which torched over one million acres of wolf range this summer and was the second-largest in the history of the state, managed to avoid killing any wolves in California.
Of course, not everyone is ecstatic about the return of wolves. To restore the wolves’ reputation, Mr. Laudon’s position requires a lot of public relations work.
He aims to dismantle barriers through non-threatening communication and give others the freedom to make their own decisions. It occasionally achieves its objective.
Contract grazer Dusty de Braga tends to animals on more than 200,000 acres in the counties of Lassen and Plumas. He initially believed they were being imported, but this was later disproven.
It felt fishy to me, he said. After seeing the tracking information from the collared wolves, he changed his mind. He went on to add that while it’s possible that they dispersed on their own, many people thought state wildlife officers had brought them in.
Last Words
Mr. de Braga has been keeping a semi-regular eye on the wolves since their arrival. Between his herd and the herds of his two closest neighbours, wolves have killed more than 20 cows and calves in the last five years. Few have been confirmed, according to the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
