There’s just one known wolf pack in all of California, known as the Lassen Pack, and it just got substantially bigger. The Lassen Wolf Pack recently gave birth to a new litter of pups, welcoming at least eight new pups to the pack in total! This is definitely exciting news for wolf and animal enthusiasts since it means a promising future for the only remaining wolf pack in the state.
Located in Northern California, the Lassen Pack is the only currently known wolf pack in the state. They've been steadily growing for several years now and earlier this spring they gave birth to a brand new litter of pups!
This is the fourth year in a row that the Lassen Pack has given birth to a new litter. Experts say there are eight new pups in the litter, bringing the total number of wolves in the Lassen Pack to 14.
The arrival of new pups is always exciting for wolf enthusiasts, as it gives renewed hope in seeing wolves reintroduced to a place they once called home. We're especially eager to see the Lassen Pack grow since the state's other pack, the Shasta Pack, mysteriously disappeared in 2016.
The Lassen Pack was discovered and confirmed back in 2017, and they've given birth to a new litter of pups every year since. Of this year's litter, six have been genetically identified—four as male and two as female.
So, who exactly was the breeding male wolf that made this all possible? His origin is currently unknown, but experts are sure that he is not related to other known California wolves. The black male wolf was first documented hanging out with the Lassen Pack in June 2019.
The Lassen Pack is known to utilize a large region of Northern California across both Lassen and Plumas counties. In June 2017, the U.S. Forest Service released images of a female wolf with her mate and a pup somewhere in the Lassen National Forest.
The Lassen Pack is just the second confirmed pack of wolves in California in nearly 100 years. As of summer 2020, the pack is made up of six adult/yearling wolves and eight pups. Killing a wolf or threatening their repopulation is a potential crime and seriously investigated by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
