Published TUESDAY August 12, 2025: 'Battles With Wolves' from ZUMA represented Pulitzer winner Renee C. Byer staff at The Sacramento Bee: The return of gray wolves to rural California after over 100 years, may be viewed by some as an ecological milestone, but for ranchers with livestock and families living in these regions, it has ushered in a troubling new reality: the erosion of a basic sense of safety. Five northern California counties have declared public safety emergencies due to wolves, begging the state to allow sheriffs more leeway to, if necessary, euthanize the protected wolves if they pose a danger to people. Today, under state and federal endangered species protections, it's illegal to kill a wolf unless it presents an immediate threat to a person. The state is beginning a process of re-evaluating protections for the gray wolf, but environmental groups are likely to fight removing endangered species protections for wolves without strong evidence that they are no longer threatened. Welcome to 'Battles With Wolves'
© zReportage.com Issue #1000 Story of the Week: Published TUESDAY August 12, 2025: 'Battles With Wolves' from ZUMA represented Pulitzer winner Renee C. Byer staff at The Sacramento Bee: The return of gray wolves to rural California after over 100 years, may be viewed by some as an ecological milestone, but for ranchers with livestock and families living in these regions, it has ushered in a troubling new reality: the erosion of a basic sense of safety. Five northern California counties have declared public safety emergencies due to wolves, begging the state to allow sheriffs more leeway to, if necessary, euthanize the protected wolves if they pose a danger to people. Today, under state and federal endangered species protections, it's illegal to kill a wolf unless it presents an immediate threat to a person. The state is beginning a process of re-evaluating protections for the gray wolf, but environmental groups are likely to fight removing endangered species protections for wolves without strong evidence that they are no longer threatened. Welcome to 'Battles With Wolves'

A calf that was attacked by wolves two weeks earlier and died the day before lays on the ground waiting for inspection by California Fish and Wildlife officials at DS Ranches, in Sierra Valley. The rancher, who had treated the calf, believes it died of tetanus.
© Renee C. Byer/Sacramento Bee/ZUMA Press Wire

Sheriff MIKE FISHER uses binoculars to search for wolves in Sierra Valley. his is a serious issue that needs to be addressed said Fisher, who acknowledged feeling overwhelmed by the challenge of tracking wolves that have not only injured and killed livestock but have also grown bold enough to appear near homes and community centers.
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Rick Robert thought he saw a wolf when he peered through binoculars out the window of his Loyalton ranch, and then jumped in his truck to try to get a closer look. Later, when Axel Hunnicut, chief wolf biologist for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, looked at the photo, he thought it might be a coyote. Axel, who tracks wolves, says there has been frequent confusion among ranchers and law enforcement over whether livestock were killed by a coyote or a wolf.
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Sheriff MIKE FISHER climbs into his patrol vehicle in Sierra Valley, and said that he wants the wolves responsible for recent attacks removed from the area. According to state records, wolves protected under conservation measures killed or severely injured 27 calves in March and April alone. I'm living with no consequences, they're living it with loss, Fisher said, referring to local ranchers. He also expressed concern about wolves being spotted near homes and community centers.
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Calves graze at DC Ranches, in Sierra Valley. State records show that wolves killed or severely injured 27 calves in March and April. As a result the state has also established what it is calling a strike team of officers and scientists who are on patrol day and night in Sierra, Plumas and Siskiyou counties, where the wolves are ranging closest to livestock and people.
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WAYLON GREENWOOD, 9, left, looks toward where he spotted wolves as he and his brother WALKER, 7, play on hay bales at their ranch near the area where the family keeps their horses, in Sierra Valley. Waylon said he spotted the wolves near a rock behind the fence where his brother had been sitting the previous morning. Their father, who has already lost two calves to wolves, is now concerned about his children being outside with wolves in the area.
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DEENA EDMONSTON sits in her side-by-side off-road vehicle as she prepares to search for wolves at DS Ranches, in Sierra Valley. Despite her deep concern over several calves that have been killed by wolves, she maintains a sense of humor, even keeping a wolf keychain as a reminder of the irony. 'We normally have 600 cows on this ranch, but we only have 280 right now. We're just afraid to bring the rest of them here' said Edmonston.
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DEENA EDMONSTON waiting for Fish and Wildlife to arrive at DS Ranches in Sierra Valley, to inspect a calf killed by a wolf on May 3. She, her brother, and their staff have been watching over the cows day and night, she said. At night, Edmonston has a ranch hand guard the calves with a searchlight, but added 'It feels hopeless because you can't see, you know? You know they can see you, but you can't see them.' She said they aren't notified about wolf activity in real time. 'We were told at 7 a.m. that there was a wolf in the area at 11 p.m.'
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DEENA EDMONSTON of DS Ranches waits for California Department of Fish and Wildlife officials to inspect two of her dead calves, in Sierra Valley. Since March, Deena said she has lost five calves to wolf attacks. 'We are trying to protect our livestock on private property, and its impossible,' Edmonston said. I'm not anti-wolf, but I don't believe they belong in this valley. These wolves that are doing the killing need to be removed I dont really care where they go.
© Renee C. Byer/Sacramento Bee/ZUMA Press Wire

KEN TATE, right, a UC Davis professor studying the impacts of expanding wolf populations on California's ranchers, and RICK ROBERTI, president of the California Cattlemen's Association, walk past a dead calf on the DS Ranches, in Sierra Valley. The dead calf had been attacked by wolves two weeks earlier and had been doctored but died they think of tetanus.
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DAN GREENWOOD, right, and his son WAYLON, 9, left, stand on his parents ranch in Sierra Valley. In April his three sons and their cousins were playing in the area and the next morning Greenwood said he found their footprints and what he thinks were wolf prints on the same dusty grounds. Greenwood said if a wolf endangers his children he would kill it with his bare hands.
© Renee C. Byer/Sacramento Bee/ZUMA Press Wire

Dan Greenwood is worried that wolves seen near his corral might return and injure or kill one of his horses, possibly harm one of his three children, ages 12, 9, and 7, he said, in Sierra Valley. Greenwood's ranch has already lost two calves to wolves, and the boys have seen them several times, once chasing the family's horses in their corral and another time feeding on a dead cow.
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TINA SAITONE, Professor of Extension in Agricultural and Resource Economics at UC Davis, kisses KATIE ROBERTS dog, Koco, after it got loose on the Roberti ranch, in Sierra Valley. Following recent wolf attacks that have killed or injured several calves, Roberti has been keeping the dog within eyesight. Saitone is currently studying the impacts of California's expanding wolf population on the state's ranching communities.
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UC Davis agricultural economist TINA SAITONE, right, and her husband, California rangeland scientist KEN TATE, said, that they have been researching the impact of returning wolves on ranchers, farmers, and livestock in Lassen and Plumas counties since 2021. They reconfigured GPS tracking devices originally designed for shipping containers that Tate is holding, to fit on a strip of leather used as a collar around the necks of 140 cattle, allowing them to record the animals movements.
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As elk grazed in Sierra County, Sheriff Mike Fisher said there have been fewer sightings of them since two wolves killed one in April while he was patrolling the area. It is believed that the elk, while being chased by the wolves, ended up on a residence's doorstep before ultimately being taken down and killed approximately 50 yards from the house This spring, elk sightings have greatly diminished. I'm not a biologist, so I can't say or directly attribute that to the presence of wolves, but there has definitely been a marked decrease in elk sightings, Fisher said.
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Plumas County District 1 Supervisor DWIGHT CERESOLA, explains how the cattle are attacked from behind and eaten alive at DS Ranches, in Sierra Valley. 'The wolves go in from the back and rip out the guts, the lungs and the heart out they go and cripple the back end so that they can't travel and once they get them down and they are exhausted, they start eating on them,' he said.
© Renee C. Byer/Sacramento Bee/ZUMA Press Wire

Plumas County District 1 Supervisor DWIGHT CERESOLA, right, listens as UC Davis professors TINA SAITONE, left, and KEN TATE discuss a wolf study they are conducting, during a meeting at the home of RICK ROBERTI, in Sierra Valley. Roberti is seated next to his daughter, KATIE, alongside Sierra County District 3 Supervisor PAUL ROEN.
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RICK ROBERTI, president of the California Cattlemen's Association and a longtime cattle rancher, drives his truck with a pair of binoculars nearby to help spot wolves in Sierra Valley. There needs to be a greater sense of urgency he said, referring to the wolves that have been attacking and killing livestock.
© Renee C. Byer/Sacramento Bee/ZUMA Press Wire

AXEL HUNNICUTT, chief wolf biologist and gray wolf coordinator for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, uses binoculars to search for wolves in the Sierra Valley alongside his rescue dog, Yeats. He is tracking the Beyem Sego Pack, believed to include at least three adults: a black male from Oregon, a mother, and her daughter.
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AXEL HUNNICUTT, chief wolf biologist and gray wolf coordinator for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, takes out a VHF telemetry receiver to detect the location of wolves in the Sierra Valley. The device picks up radio signals from collared wolves. Hunnicutt is specifically listening for the Beyem Sego Pack, which includes at least three adults: a male, a mother, and her daughter.
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AXEL HUNNICUTT, chief wolf biologist and gray wolf coordinator for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, discovered a wolf track on a path in Clover Valley. He was encouraged to find no signs that the wolves he's tracking in the area had come to harm.
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AXEL HUNNICUTT, chief wolf biologist and gray wolf coordinator for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, holds a bottle of scent lure designed to attract wolves for DNA collection. He scattered the liquid onto a rock positioned within view of a remote camera mounted in a nearby tree. Hunnicutt said he hopes a wolf will rub against the rock, leaving behind biological material that can be retrieved for DNA testing.
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AXEL HUNNICUTT, chief wolf biologist for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, secures a camera in a tree along a path where he spotted a pair of wolf tracks on Thursday, June 5, 2025, in Clover Valley. As the gray wolf coordinator for California, he hopes to capture images of the newly discovered pair and later collar them.
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AXEL HUNNICUTT, chief wolf biologist for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, howled like a wolf in the high Sierras, hoping to elicit a response from a pair of new wolves to confirm they were still in the area. He thought he faintly heard a reply across the valley and planned to return that evening and howl over there. Earlier that day, wolves from the Beyem Sego Pack had howled back.
© Renee C. Byer/Sacramento Bee/ZUMA Press Wire