Collar Push for California Wolves
California’s effort to collar wolves continues, with 13 packs now tracked by collar statewide.
Last week I spoke with Kirk Wilbur, Vice President of Government Affairs for the California Cattlemen’s Association. He says ranchers, wolf advocates, and state wildlife officials may disagree on many things, but they agree it’s important to reduce conflicts between wolves and livestock.
“And the best way to do that is to know where wolves are so that ranchers can be proactive in protecting their herd. And the best way to have that information is to have those GPS collars on as many wolves in the state of California as possible.”
Wilbur says the association is pushing for more funding to expand the effort.
“CCA, because of that importance, has long been pressuring the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to collar as many wolves as possible. We recognize that there are some resource constraints in the department. They’re not adequately funded in their wolf program currently to get all of that collaring done. So, to that end, we are actively lobbying the governor and the legislature this year to appropriate 31-million-dollars for the wolf program at CDFW.”
According to the association, at least six wolf packs in California still have no animals fitted with active GPS collars.
