A new pack of gray wolves has been discovered in California’s Sierra Valley, about 50 miles north of Lake Tahoe, marking the third new pack documented in the state this year.
The “Diamond” pack, as it has been named, consists of at least one adult male and one adult female, and they have been traveling together for at least six months, wildlife officials said, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The wolves could soon produce offspring if they haven’t already, which would further grow the wolf population in the state, the officials noted.
The species was all but wiped out in California in the 1920s because of hunting and trapping, but migrating wolves from other states have been arriving since 2011.
Currently, there are nine packs living in the northern areas of the Golden State, along with several lone wolves.
Axel Hunnicutt, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s gray wolf coordinator, said that the Diamond pack’s presence is part of the ongoing southern movement of wolves.
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Some wolves from Sierra Valley have roamed within about 10 miles of the city Reno, Nevada, he said.
“Having wolves that close to a large city is interesting,” Hunnicutt said, according to the Chronicle.
Newsweek reached out to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife via email for more information about the Diamond wolf pack.
In 2024, there were 30 new pups born to California’s wolf packs, which was the biggest increase in the state in a century, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife previously said.
The Diamond pack is the third new one to be recorded in California this year, following packs documented in the Lassen National Forest and the “Antelope” pack in Sierra Valley.
Gray wolves are protected under both California and federal endangered species laws.
The increase in wolf population has also led to an uptick in the deaths of livestock in the area.
“Obviously we don’t want to undercut that wolves are a conservation success,” Kirk Wilbur, vice president of government affairs for the California Cattlemen’s Association said, reported the Chronicle.
“But it’s important for people to know that as the population [of wolves] increases, we see a similar increase in the rate that cattle, sheep and other animals are killed by those wolves.”
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife asks members of the public to report if they spot wolves or any evidence of them, such as tracks or droppings.
