Gray Wolf Makes Historic Return to Los Angeles County

In the early hours of Saturday, a gray wolf quietly entered Los Angeles County, marking a historic moment.

According to state biologists, this could be the first sighting of female wolves in Southern California in a century. Over the years, an eradication campaign aimed at protecting livestock had led to the near disappearance of this apex predator throughout California. The last confirmed wild wolf in the state was killed by federal trapper Frank W. Koehler in Lassen County on June 12, 1924.

The 3-year-old female, identified as BEY03F, was captured on a trail camera in the mountains north of Santa Clarita.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is tracking her movements using GPS technology. They reported to the Los Angeles Times that she successfully navigated through the desert of Kern County and crossed several busy highways.

BEY03F was born in 2023 to the Bayem Seyo Pack in Northern California’s Plumas County, and she has traveled around 370 miles since then, according to Axel Hunnicutt, the department’s gray wolf coordinator.

Her journey is being closely monitored thanks to a GPS collar installed in 2024.

Currently, wildlife officials estimate there are approximately 60 wolves in California, primarily concentrated in the remote northern regions. Wolves began returning to California from Oregon in 2011 and have gradually re-established themselves.

Hunnicutt told the LA Times that the primary threat to these wolves today is not from hunters but from vehicles.

Another wolf, OR-93, made it to San Luis Obispo County in 2021 but was later struck and killed on Interstate 5 in Kern County.

While no wolf packs are known to exist in the San Gabriel Mountains—where BEY03F was last spotted—biologists remain hopeful that a lone male might be in the area. This could potentially lead to Southern California’s first modern wolf pack in over a century.