Sonora, CA – The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) reports that it was forced to kill four wolves in Sierra Valley due to the pack’s “unprecedented level of livestock attacks across the Sierra Valley,” resulting in 70 total livestock losses.
State wildlife officials also noted that they accidentally “lethally removed” one of the wolves by mistake. The wolves from the Beyem Seyo pack in Plumas County, which we reported earlier this year, were captured and fitted with collars to monitor the pack. With 110 confirmed or suspected wolf-caused livestock losses statewide during this period, these particular wolves accounted for 63% of the overall livestock losses in California during this timeframe, according to CDFW. They also observed a further 17 livestock losses through October 14, 2025.
The wolves that were killed included a breeding pair (WHA08M and LAS23F), a female (BEY01F), and a male (BEY12M). The wolf killed after being mistaken for a breeding male (WHA08M), due to its similar color and size, was a juvenile (BEY12M). CDFW also found the remains of two additional juveniles in this pack (BEY15M and BEY17M) that died before this operation. They added, “The cause of their deaths is unknown; however, juvenile gray wolf deaths due to natural causes are common.”
This deadly action follows months of intensive non-lethal management efforts to reduce livestock loss.
“This decision was not made lightly nor was it easy,” said CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham. “Despite extensive non-lethal efforts, including hazing and adaptive tools used by our Summer Strike Team, these wolves continued preying on livestock. The situation with this pack is far outside any comparable experience across the state or the West, making the long-term recovery of gray wolves much more difficult. Gray wolves naturally prey on wild ungulates like deer and elk, not livestock, but the CDFW noted these wolves had become habituated to preying on cattle. “Several things can be true simultaneously,” Director Bonham continued. “Wolves are here in California, and that is an amazing ecological return. Yet, their reemergence is a significant, disruptive change for rural communities. Wolves are one of the state’s most iconic species, and coexistence is our collective future, but that comes with tremendous responsibility and sometimes hard decisions. The Beyem Seyo pack became so reliant on cattle at an unprecedented level, and we could not break the cycle, which ultimately is not good for the long-term recovery of wolves or for people.”
This wolf management action concluded on September 30th, following months of effort by CDFW’s Summer Strike Team. The program, established to minimize animal attacks on ranching properties in the severely damaged Sierra Valley, deployed over 18,000 staff hours over 114 days, engaging in 95 hazing episodes that helped avert even more cow deaths, according to CDFW. The program included eighteen Sierra Valley farms. It also aided in depredation investigations, allowing ranchers to gain compensation under the CDFW’s Wolf-Livestock Compensation Program.
CDFW staff continues working to safely capture and relocate the remaining juveniles to wildlife facilities for their welfare and to prevent any learned behavior from spreading to other wolves across California. Gray wolves are protected as an endangered species under both state and federal law, including the California Endangered Species Act and the federal Endangered Species Act. The CDFW noted that it worked with federal wildlife officials to “ensure the actions taken were necessary and consistent with federal law.”
For more information on gray wolves living in California and actions individuals can take to deter wolves from their ranching properties, click here. For details on a gray wolf that visited Tuolumne County, click here.
