Why did the gray wolf cross the road? Nobody knows yet.
A gray wolf was spotted in northern Lake County in late August, and it’s the first confirmed sighting west of Interstate 5 since the species began returning to California.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife got two reports and a set of photos from the area where Mendocino, Glenn, and Lake counties meet. A CDFW wolf biologist checked the photos, surveyed the area, and found wolf tracks at one of the two sighting locations. The agency believes it’s a single, dispersing black wolf – one animal moving on its own, likely still searching for territory or other wolves. It may have already left the county.
It only took 45 years, but the gray wolf has recovered. After being virtually eliminated from the lower 48 states by the early part of the 20th century, the gray wolf is back – and in HUGE numbers! Through a partnership of states, tribes, conservation organizations and private landowners, the once-endangered predator is now flourishing.