Break Out The Cigars: California Wolf Family Increases

Congratulations to the family. Here’s more from the San Francisco Chronicle:

The wolf den, state officials said, is located somewhere in Plumas or Lassen county — a region with a combined area of 7,300 square miles. The secrecy is to keep the state’s rarest critters safe from wolf hunters who would do them harm, as well as from wolf admirers who would disturb the new family’s privacy.

The pups — four male, two female and two gender unknown — were fathered by a different male than the wolf that fathered the three previous litters, Weiss said. The pack now numbers 14, including four adolescent wolves from previous litters.

There are many pressures that might make a female wolf decide to change partners, as other Californians are known to do. Wolves fall victim to hunters, disease, accidents, traps and unsuccessful attempts to take down prey, according to biologists.