Wild gray wolves have killed dozens of livestock in the Sierra Nevada mountains in recent months, prompting California wildlife officials to take the extreme action of killing several of the animals, authorities announced on Friday.

“This decision was not made lightly nor was it easy,” said Charlton H. Bonham, director of California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), in a statement on Friday.

Between March 28 and Sept. 10, the CDFW said wolves from the Beyem Seyo pack in the Sierra Valley were responsible for 70 livestock losses, accounting for 63% of total livestock losses across the entire state during that time period.

The department spent months trying to deter the wolves from killing the livestock, including using drones, non-lethal bean bag rounds, and all-terrain vehicles.

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