Pack Status: Active. Designated in 2021.
WHA01F, a female wolf collared by CDFW, and OR85, a male wolf originally collared by ODFW in February 2020, are the breeding pair of the Whaleback Pack, occupying a 480 square-mile territory in eastern Siskiyou County.
OR85 was likely born in 2019 and dispersed from Oregon’s Mount Emily Pack before entering California in November 2020. WHA01F is one of OR7’s offspring from the Rogue Pack in Oregon, according to genetic analysis.
The Whaleback pair produced seven pups in 2021. Eight pups were born to the pack in 2022, delivering the largest known litter of wolf pups in the state in over 100 years. Another eight were born in 2023, and at least six were born in 2024.
In March 2023, OR85 was recollared, and WHA12M, a yearling male born in 2022, was collared. In January 2025, WHA01F and WHA29F, a pup born in 2024, were both collared.
At least three wolves from the Whaleback Pack were detected in Modoc County in the first quarter of 2025.
