Elk NetworkWolves Attack Livestock, Kill Calf in California

General | April 10, 2018

Wolves attacked livestock in northern California that led investigating authorities to put down a year-old calf because of the extent of its injuries. It happened during the first week of April on a ranch near Taylorsville which is approximately 150 miles northeast of Sacramento.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife reports neighbors heard a commotion including a calf bawling loudly. They used spotlights and saw three wolves in the pasture and the rest of the cattle tightly grouped together. They honked a vehicle horn and shined a light on the wolves until they ran away.

Authorities examined the calf and determined the injuries on its legs, neck and throat to be consistent with a predator attack. Because of the calf’s ailing condition, they euthanized it.

In addition to multiple eyewitnesses, a GPS point from a collared wolf indicated the animal was in the pasture at the time of the initial attack.

Wolves from the same pack, the Lassen Pack, killed a cow in October 2017. That marked the first livestock kill in California in more than 100 years.

(Photo source: California Department of Fish and Wildlife)