Roll Out the Welcome Mat For Wolves In California – They’re Back!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 3, 2015

Contact: Courtney Sexton, 202.772.0253, csexton@defenders.org

SACRAMENTO – Today the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced that wildlife biologists have been tracking a gray wolf that has likely dispersed from Oregon into Siskiyou County in northern California. The presence of this new wolf – whose sex and specific origins have yet to be determined – affirms support for the ready return of gray wolves to California. After nearly a century without wolves being present in the state, this new wolf is now the second in the last four years known to cross the border into California. In recent years “wandering wolf” OR-7 was made famous for several trips into the Golden State, and has now started his own pack in Oregon’s southern Cascades not far from the California border.

The following is a statement from Jamie Rappaport Clark, Former President and CEO, Defenders of Wildlife:

“The presence of this second-known wolf in California is a source of hope and excitement for the recovery of the species, not just in the state, but across America. We have long known that there is abundant suitable habitat for wolves in California, and it was only a matter of time before they made their way back.

“Polls and the last year’s listing under the California Endangered Species Act have shown that Californians are ready to welcome wolves home to the Golden State, and there couldn’t be a better time. Gray wolves are still struggling to recover throughout the country, but California now has an opportunity to help lead the way to that recovery. The state must take care not to make the mistakes that we have seen in places like Idaho and the northern Rockies, where wolves are still being needlessly slaughtered. Californians can coexist with wolves, and the wolves are clearly telling us that they are ready to come home.”

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