The California Department of Fish and Wildlife reported Tuesday that the state currently has seven known wolf families amid changing pack dynamics and areas of new wolf activity.

The department’s latest map depicts where wolves are ranging within the state.

California now has around 50 known wolves, according to the state wolf coordinator — up from around 49 at the end of 2023. That modest increase comes despite 30 pups known to have been born in spring 2024.

“I’m a little concerned by what seems like slower population growth, but the evolving dynamics of California’s returning wolves are thrilling as we see wolves meet up with each other to establish or merge packs,” said Amaroq Weiss, a senior wolf advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. “I’m encouraged by how dynamic these animals are, and it’s important to remember that California’s wolf recovery is still in its early days.”

Tuesday’s report indicates that the nine packs confirmed at the end of September 2024 have declined to seven.

The Beckwourth pack no longer exists and another pack, the Antelope pack, merged with the Beyem Seyo pack. The merged pack will continue to be called Beyem Seyo. The agency also reported new areas of wolf activity in five locales in Northern California.

The department’s quarterly report covered known wolf information from October through December 2024.

During this time the department confirmed the existence of seven packs whose territories span portions of Siskiyou, Lassen, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Tehama and Tulare counties.

New areas of wolf activity were also documented: These consist of small groups of two or three wolves each in Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, Shasta and Tehama counties.

The report indicates wolf numbers for the two newest packs, Diamond and Ice Cave. The Diamond pack has a minimum of two wolves, and the Ice Cave pack had two adults and two pups as of last August. The report does not provide current numbers for the state’s other five wolf families, which are the Lassen, Whaleback, Beyem Seyo, Harvey and Yowlumni packs. The department will begin issuing annual wolf reports containing minimum wolf counts starting later this spring.

However, at a rangeland symposium held in mid-February at UC Davis the state wolf coordinator for the department, Axel Hunnicutt, advised that the total confirmed wolf count in California currently stands at around 50. Spring 2025 will likely see new pups.

“Strong legal protections for California’s wolves ensure that state wolf management doesn’t devolve into disturbing and unscientific wolf-killing sprees like we see in the Northern Rockies,” said Weiss. “I’m proud of California for protecting these remarkable animals, who are essential to healthy, wild nature and a welcome part of our state’s natural heritage.”

The first wolf in nearly a century to make California part of his range was OR-7, a radio-collared wolf from Oregon that entered California in late 2011. OR-7 traveled across seven northeastern counties in California before returning to southwestern Oregon, where he found a mate and settled down, forming the Rogue pack.

Several of OR-7’s offspring have since come to California and established packs. Those include the original breeding male of the Lassen pack and the breeding female of the Yowlumni pack residing in Tulare County. The Shasta pack, California’s first confirmed wolf pack in nearly 100 years, was discovered in 2015 but disappeared a few months later.

The gray wolf (Canis lupus) is native to California but was driven to extinction in the state by the mid-1920s. After OR-7 left Oregon for California, the Center and allies successfully petitioned the state to fully protect wolves under California’s endangered species act. Wolves are also federally protected in California under the federal Endangered Species Act. It is illegal to intentionally kill any wolves in the state.