Gray wolves have recolonized parts of California by dispersing from packs in Oregon and spreading into areas as far south as the southern Sierra Nevada.
October 26, 2025
high
ecology
Natural dispersal and range expansion of gray wolves between neighboring states.
In 2020, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed gray wolves in the lower 48 U.S. states from protections under the Endangered Species Act, and a federal judge ordered those protections reinstated in 2022.
January 01, 2022
high
policy
Recent federal regulatory and judicial actions affecting legal protections for gray wolves in the contiguous United States.
Gray wolves were largely hunted, trapped, and poisoned out of the contiguous United States by the early 20th century, and the last wolves in California were believed extirpated by the 1920s.
January 01, 1920
high
historical
Historical drivers of gray wolf range contraction in the lower 48 U.S. states.