BEY03F detected – A collared gray wolf has been detected in Sequoia National Park for the first time in more than 100 years. The animal, identified as BEY03F, is moving across California in a way that wildlife advocates say signals a slow return from the brink—while other commu
A trail-camera silence in Sequoia National Park may have been broken by a single, traveling signal: a collared gray wolf detected there for the first time in more than 100 years.
California Wolf Watch says a female wolf known as BEY03F has reached Sequoia after months of movement across the state. The nonprofit says the wolf’s collar was first recorded far from the park—reaching Los Angeles County earlier this year and then Inyo County in April.
John Marchwick. an editor at California Wolf Watch. wrote on April 6 that BEY03F is “officially the first known wolf in (Inyo County) since wolves were extirpated from California in 1924.” He said he confirmed her progress by using the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s online wolf tracker.
Her latest movement into Sequoia National Park marks the first publicly known wolf sighting there in more than a century, Marchwick wrote, again tying the confirmation to the state’s online data.
Susan Dewar, an ecologist and president of the nonprofit California Wolf Foundation, said in a May 18 email that there can be a lag between when wolves enter geographical areas and when they are logged. Dewar said the wolf’s satellite signature entered the park on Sunday, May 17.
“The map … shows that she is still in the national park today,” Dewar wrote. She said BEY03F is likely “exploring new territory and/or seeking a mate.”
On the tracker, the adult female is listed under the label Yowlumni Disperser. The name comes from the pack whose territory she traveled to once she left her natal pack.
The significance of the Sequoia detection comes back to how California lost wolves in the first place. Wildlife advocates and state officials say gray wolves were wiped out in California in the 1920s, largely due to government-backed eradication programs.
The conversation about wolves did not end after the loss. California Wolf Foundation president Dewar pointed to historic hunting. trapping. and poisoning efforts. saying those campaigns were driven by concerns over livestock losses and longstanding perceptions of wolves as threats. She also said habitat loss and fragmentation contributed to the decline.
The species began returning on its own in 2011, migrating from other western states. Under California Department of Fish and Wildlife guidance, gray wolves are now listed as a protected, endangered species under both state and federal law.
Not everyone is looking only at the long arc of recovery. In May 2025, officials in several Northern California counties—Shasta, Lassen, and Modoc—approved local emergency resolutions after reports that they described as “bold” behavior, including livestock killings near homes.
Marchwick said the wolf now drawing attention in Sequoia—BEY03F—was not linked to those incidents.
The wolf’s own story is part of why researchers and advocates are watching her so closely. While BEY03F is classified as a gray wolf, photos show her coat appears blackish-gray. California Wolf Watch says she was born in 2023 as part of the Beyem Seyo Pack in Northern California.
In 2025, the nonprofit says she traveled about 370 miles south of her natal pack in Plumas County. State wildlife officials captured and collared her in May 2025 within the Yowlumni Pack’s territory.
Earlier this year, the tracking data shows she briefly reached Los Angeles County before turning back north through Kern and Tulare counties.
Dewar said wolves like BEY03F are considered “pioneering individuals” as the species slowly reestablishes itself in California. She said the reappearance of wolves represents “a relatively new chapter” in a slow. natural return from populations that have recovered in other western states. She added that the movement highlights both the species’ resilience and the need for continued conservation efforts.
For people who want to follow BEY03F’s path, California Department of Fish and Wildlife maintains an online wolf tracker that shows movements statewide.
Contributing to the reporting was Mary Walrath-Holdridge.
Sequoia National Park gray wolf BEY03F California Wolf Watch California Department of Fish and Wildlife wolf tracker conservation endangered species livestock concerns