NorCal Photographer Captures Rare Photos of the Lassen Pack
Randy Robbins has achieved a goal that has been atop his Bucket List for some time now. The Susanville native is known for his wildlife cameras surrounding the Lassen region, capturing the vast wildlife of Northern California. Now, after working for months to get a glimpse of the Lassen Pack, he has finally captured them on camera.
Wolf packs are very rare in California, with approximately 20 total wolves comprising 3 different packs. The trailblazing Lassen Pack is the first to settle in the region and offspring have gone on to start other packs around the state. Coming on the Talking NorCal podcast in August, Robbins told us how filming the Lassen Pack sat atop his Bucket List:
In the months since, he’s come close to them a few times, including finding paw prints of the animal on a couple occassions:
Yesterday, Robbins posted a YouTube video showing the photos of the gray wolves:
The Lassen Pack is the descendant of famed OR-7, a wolf that famously traveled from Oregon into Northern California in 2011, becoming the first known wolf in the state in nearly 100 years. The pack was first confirmed in Northern California in 2017 and the alpha female has had three litter of pups with two males since.
The Lassen Pack lives a controversial life in rural Lassen County. With brand-new litters of pups in recent years, the Lassen Pack has grown to 10 current members. Some locals furiously debate their right to live in the region, with recent incidents of killing grazing cattle on nearby ranches stoking the flames. Wildlife officials revealed they believe most of the pack was able to survive the nearby Dixie Fire.
Now, Robbins images confirm the wolf pack continues to thrive in the burn scar of the Dixie Fire. See our full interview with Randy Robbins from August:
