California's controversial rare beast that vanished over 100 years ago stages shocking comeback: 'We've been invaded'

An endangered predator has returned to California after vanishing more than 100 years ago.

At least 44 gray wolves have been spotted in the West Coast state, including a record-breaking 30 new pups this year alone, according to Axel Hunnicutt, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife's gray wolf coordinator. 

This is the biggest increase in a century, with the animals from seven different packs now in nine of the state's 58 counties, Marin Independent Journal reported. 

But not everyone is happy about the return of the the gray wolf and are concerned about the risk to farmers' livestock. 

Janna Gliatto, a manager at Table Rock Ranch in Monatgue, told SF Gate: 'Our hands are tied. We've been invaded'. 

Gliatto explained how her livestock have been attacked by wolves but can't do anything about it.

The State Endangered Species Act dictates that a gray wolf can only be killed if it is threatening a human. 

Rick Roberti, a cattle rancher in Plumas County, said one of his calves was killed by a wolf a quarter-mile from his house and that he has also been left with no recourse.

'It’s adding a lot of stress,' he told The Journal. 'Wolves chase the cattle. They stress them out. It gets frantic. They will run them for miles. The cattle stampede through fences. 

'The wolf is going to spread throughout California. There’s nothing to stop it. They are going to move, and I think it’s going to be a crisis. We’re not set up for it.' 

Steve Arnold, the president of the California Cattlemen’s Association, said he plans to sue California once the wolf population gets bigger to bring in more lax rules. 

'We’re going to go after this for all we can,' he told The Journal. 

The state does help ranchers protect their livestock through non-lethal methods, such as fencing and guard dogs. 

In 2021, the state gave ranchers $3 million to compensate them for the cost of funding those non-lethal methods. 

That money ran out in March of this year, but Governor Gavin Newsom has approved adding $600,000 to the program's budget. 

Meanwhile, many conservation groups are excited that gray wolves have become a more common sight in the state.  

'It’s a redemption story. It’s a renewal story. It’s inspiring,'  the Center for Biological Diversity's Amaroq Weiss told The Journal. 'It has shown that California is wolf country.' 

Biologists estimate that California could be home to nearly 500 wolves north of I-80, according to The Journal. 

Wolves used to roam around California and the American West for years until settlers began shooting and poisoning them in the 1800 and early 1900s.

Before they returned, the last gray wolf in California was killed in the summer of 1924 after a government hunter named Frank Koehler shot it twice in Litchfield, about 75 miles outside of Lake Tahoe, according to The Journal. 

Koehler had set 21 traps near the remote town to try and trap a coyote that had killed a farmer's turkeys. 

When he came back to check the traps, he found one missing and followed the footprints for five miles until he came across the aging and injured wolf. 

It would be nearly 90 years before a gray wolf would step foot on California soil again, with a young male crossing the border from Oregon in 2011. 

Four years later, the first pack reestablished itself in Siskiyou County, and by 2019, there was seven gray wolves in California. 

Outside California, the laws around hunting the wolves are less strict. 

Wyoming allows residents to shoot wolves on sight. In Idaho, hundreds are hunted each year. And in Oregon and Washington, the animal can be shot if it's attacking livestock. 

'The growing population brings significant challenges in regards to the people and agricultural landscape that’s currently there,' Hunnicutt told SF Gate. 'I have mixed emotions about it.'