Wolves Maul Horse, Calf On Ranch Near Playground, Sheriff Pleads For Help

A local sheriff near northern California ranchlands is uringing the state to intervene after a series of wolf attacks intensified in early January, including an incident in which a pack mauled a horse and a 600-pound calf in a pasture just yards from a home and children’s playground.

The sheriff and ranchers say the attacks — attributed to one pack — have escalated over months, bringing the county’s total to 45 and raising growing concerns about public safety as wolf activity moves closer to residential areas.

The latest attack happened Jan. 1 at a ranch north of Susanville, where wolves attacked a horse and a 600-pound calf.

The horse, named "Smoke," was found in a pasture with severe wounds including a gaping 6-by-4-inch gash on its hind quarter, according to the Lassen County Sheriff's Office.

Although still alive, the owners of the Willow Creek ranch told deputies that they would have to euthanize the horse.

The calf had bite wounds on the inside of its hind quarter and near the left ear.

Police said tracks in the area indicated that wolves had attacked the animals, and the kill was confirmed by a federal trapper.

Wolves from a pack known as the Harvey Pack were observed a short distance away from the ranch in Rice Canyon on New Year’s Eve, according to the sheriff, who attributed responsibility to the pack.

The attacks occurred in a pasture described as "immediately adjacent" to the main residence and about a dozen yards from a children's playground, raising safety concerns.

On Jan. 3, another wolf attack was reported at the Hagata Ranch just southeast of the Willow Creek Ranch. Authorities said the calf appeared to be eaten or violently attacked.

The two strikes bring the total number of wolf attacks in Lassen County to 45, with all but three confirmed to involve local wolf packs. Most have been attributed to the Harvey Pack. It was unclear what the time frame for the count was.

Lassen County Sheriff John McGarva told authorities in November the wolf pack activity was becoming an "increasing threat."

He turned to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to help deal with the pack. While interventions were launched in Sierra Valley, officials told him that Lassen County attacks were not as pressing and would not be addressed, he said in a Jan. 5 letter addressed to California Natural Resources Agency Secretary Wade Crowfoot.

McGarva told Crowfoot the pack is a widespread threat to producers there and that its members appear to be expanding their territory into a larger area. "As the Sheriff, I am asking for the means to intervene and protect those in my county from a problem wolf pack that has clearly become an increasing threat," he wrote in the letter. "We need to address this in partnership before it becomes the public safety risk it is on course to become."

The attacks and the sheriff's plea comes just months after the California Department of Fish and Wildlife killed four gray wolves believed to be responsible for dozens of cattle attacks in a valley between Sacramento and Reno. The wolves were members of the Beyem Seyo pack, one of 10 in California.

Current conservation methods are not equipped to address the challenges posed by conflicts between wildlife and ranchers, according to a trio of researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, including the university's California Wolf Project.

Wolves normally prey on wild hoofed animals like deer and elk, not livestock and wildlife expert say the practice is dangerous behavior because it draws them closer to human communities, increasing the potential for conflict despite their instinct to avoid humans.

McGarva said the new attacks in Lassen County appeared to be "purely for the act of killing" rather than for food.

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