Gray wolves (Canis lupus) have naturally recolonized California after nearly a century of absence. UC Berkeley’s California Wolf Project, established in 2024 in collaboration with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, investigates the ecological and social dimensions of this return. Here, we present preliminary findings from our first phase of research, focusing on drivers of home range size, livestock depredations, and diet composition. Using GPS collar data collected between 2017 and 2025, we estimated 58 seasonal autocorrelated kernel density estimates (AKDEs) representing 19 pack-years. Home range size varied across biologically relevant wolf seasons and was best explained by prey availability, with directional shifts between seasons. Modeling depredation reports revealed that livestock depredations were more likely to occur in areas with low native prey abundance and high cattle density. DNA metabarcoding of 379 scats from four packs indicated that wolf diets contained varying proportions of native and domestic prey. Together, these results demonstrate that prey availability—whether native or domestic—strongly shapes wolf space use and behavior in California. Our findings complement CDFW’s management efforts and highlight the unique ecological and management contexts faced by wolves recolonizing a highly human-dominated landscape.