One Wolf Pack Cost California and Ranchers $2.6 Million, According to New UC Davis Study
A single wolf pack in Northern California caused extraordinary economic damage last year, highlighting the growing tension between wolf recovery and rural livelihoods.
Researchers at University of California, Davis estimate that the Beyem Seyo wolf pack’s reliance on livestock in Sierra Valley cost ranchers and the state at least $2.6 million over roughly six months in 2024. The pack killed at least 92 calves and cows between late March and early October, resulting in about $235,000 in direct livestock losses. Additional confirmed kills could push that figure closer to $300,000.
The state’s expenses were far higher. California spent more than $2 million on intervention efforts, including deploying wildlife managers and game wardens for months in an attempt to steer the wolves away from cattle using nonlethal deterrents. Those efforts ultimately failed, leading regulators to euthanize the pack’s three adult wolves in October—the first state-sanctioned killing of wolves in California in a century.
The UC Davis analysis found the pack’s behavior to be unprecedented. Despite extensive deterrence, the wolves became heavily dependent on cattle, hunting in daylight and showing little fear of human presence. At its peak, the Beyem Seyo pack killed more livestock than entire wolf populations in states like Montana and Wyoming during the same period.
Statewide, California’s estimated 50 to 70 wolves were responsible for 175 livestock deaths last year, with the Beyem Seyo pack accounting for more than half. Similar conflicts resurfaced recently in Lassen County, where wolves linked to the Harvey Pack killed a calf and fatally injured a family horse.
