4 conservation groups petition Calif. for gray wolf protection

The only gray wolf in California arrived after heading south out of Oregon last year while his brother headed east into Idaho, moves that sealed each of their fates. The brother is dead, shot illegally by a hunter this month, but in the Golden State wildlife advocates are demanding lifesaving protections for the lone wolf known as OR-7. A GPS satellite maps the wolf's travels, and he is the first of the predators to roam within the state's boundaries since 1924, when the last gray wolf was killed by a trapper intent on making the West safe for cattle. On Monday, the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the Fish and Game Commission to protect gray wolves under the California Endangered Species Act. Though gray wolves are protected by the federal act, listing the wolves in California would mean wildlife officials must consider a recovery plan. If the wolf were protected it would press authorities to determine how many wolves would be needed to populate a given area before it would not be considered endangered. It would include a plan to deal with rancher conflicts over livestock depredation, tools for ranchers to use to avoid conflicts, and monitoring for disease such as distemper and rabies...more