A new pack of grey wolves was discovered in Sequoia National Park amongst the Sierra Nevada Mountains on Friday. The next known closest pack is around 200 miles north.
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Last month there were reports of grey wolves seen in the National Park, which led researchers to search for tracks, scat, and hair. They found DNA samples from 12 gray wolves.
Gray wolves were once native to California but after being hunted, trapped, and pushed out, they became a rarity in the continental United States. Since the 1920’s there have been limited sightings of gray wolves in California, until 2011 when OR7 came into the state from Oregon. OR7 was the first gray wolf to make California a part of its territory in almost a century. Since then, the gray wolves have been making a slow comeback in California.
Gray wolves are protected under the Endangered Species Act, which means hunting or hurting them is illegal. They were declared an endangered species in 1974 and though their population has increased in recent years, they remain protected.
In the new pack, there are five female wolves that had not previously been detected in California, one of which is a direct descendant of OR7. Though researchers have not found a mature, male gray wolf in the pack, there are pups in the pack – two males and two females.
