In recent years, the intensifying California wildfires raging across the Golden State have devoured millions of acres of forest land. As a result, the loss erases the habitat of wild animals in the forest, forcing them to leave the territory if they do not succumb to fire and heat. Already in 2021, almost 2 million acres of land were burned out as a result of more than 10 fires. Every year, when the season of fires is extended due to drought, this number is sure to grow.
The worst fire this year broke out in mid-July in northeastern California. Since then, the Dixie fire has destroyed 963,000 acres, damaging wildlife in the area. One family of wolves, equipped with GPS tracking collars, roams the devastated area. The explorers who followed Lassen’s flock feared the worst as they watched the flames engulf more and more tracts of land.
When Kent Loudon, a California wolf biologist, figured out the coordinates of the collars’ last impulses, he feared the worst. “If you go in the wrong direction, you can be trapped,” he told Sacramento Bee. However, much to his surprise, the wolf pack survived. He discovered a surviving oasis that included a small stream and meadow. There he noticed seven of the flock, three adults and four cubs. They fled when they spotted the biologists.
Not all wildlife is lucky
While Lassen’s flock overcame the worst of the Dixie fires, the other animals failed to escape. Aside from opening the flock in the meadow, Loudon also stumbled upon a disturbing sight. About two dozen heads of cattle died nearby in a burnt thicket. The wolves were feeding on carcasses. Calves, as well as adult cows, riddled the ground.
Earlier in August, a black bear was reported in newspapers after being burned by a fire in Tamarak. Staff at the Lake Tahoe Wildlife Conservation Center treated the calf only so that it later escaped, making its way under the fence. However, the staff believe that they later witnessed the cub climb up the tree and look healthy.
There are survival techniques used by wild animals living in California’s fire-prone areas. Birds fly to safety, mammals flee, some take refuge in streams and wait out the flames. Amphibians make their way underground. However, these measures do not always work. Sometimes fire surrounds wildlife, cutting off escape routes. For those hiding in burrows, the heat can exceed viable temperatures, effectively welding them in the ground.
While success stories like Tamarak are warm hearts, even many of the rescued animals have been euthanized due to their injuries. For example, a bear rescued from a fire at the 2020 North Complex suffered such extensive injuries to its paws that veterinarians were faced with the difficult decision to lay it on the ground. “The reality is that he will never be released again,” said Jamie Peyton, chief of integrative medicine services at Davis Teaching Veterinary Hospital.
For every story of rehabilitated bears, raccoons, or birds, there are dozens of untold loss stories scattered across the charred landscape. Animals that have escaped the fire can die from inhalation of smoke or even a poisonous substance as they clean their fur of ash. “Once in their bodies, it can cause a number of problems, including kidney and liver toxicity and heart abnormalities,” said Lorraine Barbosa, one of the veterinarians tasked with providing care.
Adaptations to the California Wildfires
Wildfires in California have historically been an important part of the state’s ecosystem. Long before widespread industrialization, wildfires played a vital role in California’s complex forest balance. Wildlife has adapted to be of benefit by relying on a cyclical period of sprouting. Some species of deer and woodpeckers, for example, use burnt areas to create houses where they mate and feed.
Plants in burn areas also use fire to thrive. Some mushrooms siphon nutrients after burned trees fall and rot in the soil. The giant sequoia trees have thick bark to withstand wildfires. As the forest floor burns, space is made for the sequoia seeds to root. However, changing conditions pose a new threat to these ecosystems. During a fire this year in the Sequoia National Forest, firefighters wrapped the base of the giant sequoia trees to ensure their survival. Naturally thick bark would not have been enough for the abnormally intense forest fires that became predominant during the fire season.
As climate change affects the natural world, California’s bushfire season is expanding. In the 1970s, it usually lasted 5 months a year. This has now added two additional months to cover more than half a year. Too many fires of much greater intensity over a long period of time threaten the plants and wildlife of the northwestern United States.
FAQs
Are wolves native to California?
In part, biologists are wary of the impact of the California wildfires on the state’s wolf population because they are relatively recent. In the early twentieth century, the indigenous wolves of California were exterminated, clearing the state for nearly a century. It wasn’t until 2011 that biologists witnessed the return of wolves within California. Since then, a concerted effort to maintain a healthy population has helped raise small packs of wolves that roam Northern California.
How long is the California fire season?
Traditionally, the fire season starts in July and ends in October. By November, it started raining, ending the fire season. However, as historic drought and worsening climate change warm and dry the state, the fire season is spreading deeper into the winter months. It is not uncommon to see forest fires burning in December or even January. While fires could break out at any moment, the record number of rainy months bodes ill for the future of California’s woodlands.