Who’s afraid of the big, bad wolf? Well, likely no one in southern California — at least not for the past hundred years or so. However, that all changed in February 2026 when a gray wolf was spotted in Los Angeles County for the first time in more than a century. Although this event may have many in Southern California wondering if they need to worry about running into a wolf in their backyard, the sighting actually marks progress in a remarkable conservation comeback story. The fact one of these endangered animals showed up in California’s most populous county is even more amazing.
The LA County sighting occurred early morning at the beginning of February in the mountains a short distance north of the city of San Clarita, near Pyramid Lake. This particularly wolf — a 3-year-old female identified as BEY03F — wears a tracking collar attached the previous year when she was with a pack of wolves known as the Yowlumni Pack, in Tulare County. This area, known for wolf pack activity in California, is close to 200 miles north of LA County and includes Sequoia National Park, Sequoia National Forest, and a large portion of Kings Canyon National Park.
Although BEY03F was given her collar in Tulare County, she is thought to have begun life with a pack in Plumas County, north of Sacramento, some 500 miles north of LA County. Data from the tracking collar indicated she had only left the Yowlumni Pack in Tulare County about a week before being spotted in LA County (wolves can travel about 30 miles a day). Her sighting is significant not just because the amount of mileage covered, but also because it is the furthest south a wolf has been definitively spotted in California since the 1920s.
Gray wolves making comeback in California
The story of gray wolves in California in a story of both destruction and renewal. Historically, gray wolves lived throughout the Lower 48, with the exception of the Southeastern U.S. In California, they occupied the entire state, save for coastal ranges along the Pacific Ocean and Baja. However, what was once one of the most common predatory mammals in the U.S. saw a rapid decrease in population due to overhunting and habitat destruction…