(KRON) — Deer and elk in a portion of the Bay Area will be captured by helicopter and outfitted with GPS collars during operations throughout January 2026, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Monday. Capture teams will also be targeting wolves, elk and deer in other areas of Northern California.
Mule deer, tule and Rocky Mountain elk will be captured by helicopter in portions of Alameda, Santa Clara, Colusa, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou and Tehama counties in the monthlong collaring operation, CDFW said. Wolves will be targeted in Siskiyou, Lassen and Tehama counties, along with other potentially uncollared wolf packs in Modoc, Shasta and Plumas counties.
Wildlife officials said GPS collars placed on the ungulates will improve CDFW’s understanding “of species distribution, habitat use, abundance, migration patterns, recruitment rates and survival.”
Collared wolves will have daily movement data transmitted into the CDFW’s online wolf tracker tool. Locations are not transmitted in real-time, officials said.
The capture operations will take place on lands managed by CDFW, the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, as well as on private properties with the landowners’ permission…