A wolf has visited Los Angeles County for the first time in at least 100 years, according to California Department of Fish and Wildlife officials.
They say that a 3-year-old female gray wolf was detected just northwest of Lancaster at around 6 a.m. Saturday morning, marking the first confirmed detection in the county in about a century, said CFDW's State Gray Wolf Coordinator.
The visit is also the furthest south that a wolf has been tracked in California, according to Hunnicutt.
The 3-year-old female gray wolf when it was collared in 2025. California Department of Fish and Wildlife
He says that the wolf was born in Plumas County, which is north of Lake Tahoe and in the Sierra Nevada region near the California-Nevada border. The wolf traversed through much of the Sierra Nevada and was part of a pack in Tulare County, which is located west of Fresno and just north of Bakersfield.
Hunnicutt believes that the wolf dispersed from the pack, as this is typically the time of year when wolves go off to look for mates.
He says that Saturday's detection is a "milestone" in wolf conservation in California.
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