She roamed more than 500 miles, crossing mountain ranges, the desert and major highways in search of a mate.
When she arrived in Los Angeles County on Saturday, it was the first time a gray wolf had been documented in the Los Angeles region in nearly a century.
The sighting opened a new chapter in the recovery of California’s gray wolf population — a native species that was wiped out in the state by hunters and trappers in the 1920s.
“It’s a milestone,” said Axel Hunnicutt, the lead wolf biologist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
“Wolves obviously have returned to California,” he said on Sunday. “As of yesterday,” he added, referring to Los Angeles County, “they’ve returned to the most populous county in the U.S. as well.”
The wolf, known as BEY03F, was born in 2023 in Plumas County, in Northern California, and is believed to have spent about a year making her journey south. Wildlife officials were able to track her location using a GPS collar that they had put on the wolf in May. Around 6 a.m. on Saturday, a map placed her near the settlement of Neenach in northwestern Los Angeles County, Mr. Hunnicutt said.
Centuries ago, North America had anywhere from 250,000 to two million gray wolves. But hunting, trapping and habitat loss eventually drove them out of the lower 48 states.
Populations began to rebound after they received protections under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. In the 1990s, wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park, which stretches across Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, where the species began to recover and disperse into other areas. Among the first known gray wolves to return to California was OR7, a male that roamed the state for 15 months beginning in December 2011.
There are now nine confirmed packs in the state, Mr. Hunnicutt said.
Their recovery has largely been heralded as an environmental success story. At the same time, ranchers, citing recent attacks, say more needs to be done to manage the wolves. Some packs have developed particularly bad reputations for going after livestock.
“There are good wolves and there are bad wolves,” said Rick Roberti, a rancher and the president of the California Cattlemen’s Association.
Mr. Roberti said that in cases where wolves have largely left cattle alone, there was no reason to remove them. But in some communities, he said, spates of attacks left ranchers feeling desperate. “It’s hard for everybody,” he said.
Last year, nearly 200 heads of livestock were killed by wolves in California, according to state data. A single pack of wolves known as the Beyem Seyo was responsible for about 90 of those deaths, Mr. Hunnicutt said.
Wildlife officials eventually euthanized four of the pack’s wolves.
BEY03F, the wolf that arrived in Los Angeles County over the weekend, was born into the Beyem Seyo pack.
Wildlife officials don’t know exactly when she began her journey south, though wolves generally leave their birth packs between 1 and 3 years old, when they reach sexual maturity, in search of a new habitat, and a mate — and often travel remarkable distances to do so.
OR7 traveled about 4,000 miles in his quest for a partner, eventually finding one in Oregon, his home state. One of his offspring, OR-54, traveled over 8,700 miles on a journey that took her to the Lake Tahoe Basin.
BEY03F is the first gray wolf to stray so far south since the wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone, Mr. Hunnicutt said.
Mr. Roberti, the president of the Cattlemen’s Association, said that as wolf populations keep growing, there remains much to learn about living with them.
“This has been a new experience for all of us in California,” he said. “Tell you the truth, I wake up sometimes thinking, ‘Is this is this really true?’” he added.
“It still hasn’t set in.”
Livia Albeck-Ripka is a Times reporter based in Los Angeles, covering breaking news, California and other subjects.
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