A gray wolf in Kern County, California on May 15, 2021
© California Department of Fish and WildlifeA gray wolf in Kern County, California on May 15, 2021
A gray wolf was spotted in Kern County earlier this year, the farthest south the species has traveled since being reintroduced in California after going extinct, wildlife officials said.

The collared gray wolf was captured on a trail camera drinking from a water trough on private property back on May 15, but officials received the footage last week, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said in a statement Saturday.

It is possible the wolf could be OR-93, a young male wolf that entered California from Oregon in January. The animal was spotted in San Luis Obispo County on April 5, when his collar stopped transmitting, they said.


OR-93 dispersed from the White River pack in northern Oregon, officials said.

Gray wolves were eradicated in California early in the last century because of their perceived threat to livestock. Their reappearance in the state has riled ranchers, who say wolves have preyed on their livestock on public or private land.

Wolves are protected under California's Endangered Species Act. Trump administration officials in November stripped Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in most of the U.S., ending longstanding federal safeguards and putting states and tribes in charge of overseeing the predators.

Source: AP