Long-lost predators return in conflicted landscapes.

After nearly a century without wild wolves, California saw a quiet comeback beginning in the 2010s, and now that revival has collided with ranching livelihoods in a remote mountain valley. Wildlife officials recently put down four wolves of the Beyem Seyo pack in the Sierra Valley following a sharp rise in cattle deaths linked to wolf attacks. The move, rare under California’s strict protections for the gray wolf, highlights the tightrope between recovery and coexistence.



