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3w ago

First Wolf in a Century Reaches Los Angeles County, Then Heads Back North

State biologists are tracking a dispersing GPS-collared female during breeding season, warning that highway crossings pose her greatest risk.

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A remote camera shows a female gray wolf, BEY03F, wandering in Tulare County on April 16, 2025. BEY03F then traveled hundreds of miles into Los Angeles County on Saturday, Feb. 7, when her collar gave a signal to wildlife agencies that she was north of Santa Clarita in the San Gabriel Mountains. On Monday, Feb. 9, her signal indicated she went back north into Kern County, east of Lebec. (Photo Courtesy of California Fish and Wildlife)
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Overview

  • A 3-year-old gray wolf was confirmed north of Santa Clarita near Lancaster around 6 a.m. Saturday, the first documented in Los Angeles County in about 100 years.
  • The animal, designated BEY03F, was born in 2023 in Plumas County’s Beyem Seyo Pack and was collared in May 2025 after time with the Yowlumni Pack in Tulare County.
  • GPS data show she traveled more than 370 miles and, after the weekend in the San Gabriel Mountains area, moved back into Kern County by Monday.
  • State wildlife officials say this is the furthest south a wolf has been tracked in California during the species’ modern recolonization, with at least about 60 wolves now in the state.
  • Officials describe her as a lone disperser likely searching for a mate, noting vehicle strikes are the leading known cause of wolf mortality as she navigates major highways.